The Untold Truth
by MaeMacIntosh
Summary: Jayden's not the only one with a secret. Someone is hiding something, and it will not just affect one person, but almost all of the team. Who is not who they say they are?(Rewrite)
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, this is the prologue for my fic. It really just gets the story going, and these characters most likely will only be referred to instead of showing up, if you know what I mean. Don't skip it, trust me it's important! I understand that the timeframe might be a little off on some bits of my story, but let's just play pretend, because I'm not a history major. If I were I would be writing fics about George Washington or Winston Churchill. Enjoy!**

Centuries ago, in Japan, Nighlock Monsters invaded our world. The Japanese emperor knew that this was an enemy for all nations, not just one. Therefore he called upon five of the greatest warriors from around the world to come and defeat this enemy: an African warrior, a Germanic heroin from a nomadic tribe, a Spanish conquistador, a noble English knight, and the best samurai Japan had to offer. Each brought their own techniques, strategies, and fighting styles to the table.

The emperor himself guided the team in the honorable way of the sword, molding their many ways into one. Soon, they also were taught how to use the Japanese lettering, kanji, to bend the elements to do their bidding. This is a technique mastered by few called symbol power. Each element chose a warrior: water chose the African, earth chose the Germanic nomad, wood chose the Spanish conquistador, fire chose the knight, and air chose the samurai. Eventually for some these elements morphed into something much bigger. The conquistador was able to control the forest, and the samurai could take charge of the sky.

The emperor would stay with the team at all times, training alongside them, having meals with them, and spending the slim free-time with them. There were only two exceptions to this. He left to oblige to his ever-growing duties as emperor, and the late night to early morning. In this time of absence he left his nephew to guide them. They would call him "Mentor," for he was only to aid them, not to rule over them. No one knew where the emperor would disappear to in the late hours, and this intrigued the young samurai greatly. One night, the samurai followed the emperor. They trudged through the gardens into a secluded area, deep in the center. The emperor drew the kanji for open on a hedge, and the leaves began to move and conform into an arch. The two walk into the foliage up to what appears to be a hidden shrine. The emperor sits down and begins to meditate.

The silent ritual remains constant until dawn, the young samurai watches from afar while observing the emperor's silent vigil. Once the sun begins to rise, so does the emperor. The samurai ducks out of the way, and once the emperor is gone, goes up to get a better look at the shrine. It is filled with flowers surrounding a painting of the emperor, his late wife, and his lost daughter. One night the emperor and his wife were asleep when suddenly they heard a cry from their young daughter's room. They run in to see a man, dressed all in black with cloth covering every part of him but his eyes. He is just out the window suspended by a rope with their unconscious daughter in his hands. He throws two shurikens at the couple using his free hand. The emperor dodges it, but his wife was not so lucky. She took one to the heart and dies soon after. The girl was never seen again.

The young samurai knew the story well, for this had occurred when he was still at the bottom, when he was still a street rat, before he began as a servant and student to the greatest samurai in the land. He had been adopted at the age of seven and began advanced training under his guru's watchful eye. Despite beginning advanced training later than most, the young samurai flourished and became a favorite of the emperor. The samurai follows the path of his leader out of the shrine, but not before conjuring up a bunch of cherry blossoms and laying them respectfully at the base.

As time progresses the team becomes ready to take on the responsibility of defeating the monsters. They swear to fight as samurai, defending the world from all that might harm it. Now unaligned to a particular land they protect all, no matter their place of origin. The young samurai is given the responsibility as leader. The samurai are presented armor and weapons to take on the monsters, yet they are not powerful enough. They win few battles, and constantly are recovering from an injury of some sort. The young samurai takes most of the hits, as he cares about the wellbeing of his team, and tries to protect them. The others dislike this, but none can get him to stop. They train harder, but it does little help. The more they fight, the weaker they become.

The emperor heard a rumor about a magi in an undiscovered eastern land who has the power to turn humans into nearly indestructible beings. After several more defeats, the emperor goes in distress to the magi called Zordon, who resides in a temple in an undiscovered land far to the east. Zordon presents the emperor with the power and a prophecy. He instructs his servant, known as Alpha, to take the emperor to a sphere of glass. Zordon commands the glass to show the emperor an old memory he kept locked inside, a memory only revisited at the shrine.

The glass shows the emperor the painful memory, only now in a different light. He watched as his young daughter sound asleep is awakened by the shadowy man in black. He hears her shriek as the man pulls her through the window. He watches in horror as the man pulls out his shurikens and fatally hits his beloved wife. Now, he waits for the image to fade away, but it only shows him more. He watches as the man scales to the ground. Then, he hits the girl in the head with the hilt of his sword knocking her unconscious. The man carries her limp body to his horse, and rides away.

The scene changes to a house, one the emperor recognizes as the house of one of his most trusted allies. He watches as the man, the former best samurai in the land changes her into rags, cuts her hair far too short and ragged for the daughter of the emperor, and treats her wound. The little girl's eyes flitter open in confusion. The old man, realizing that her memory had been dashed due to the injury to her head, tells her that she had been in the market begging for food, when a man, whom he assumed her father knocks her in the head with a cane. Her "father" begins to kick her until the old man intervenes. The emperor's heart breaks as the little girl smiles at him and thanks him.

The emperor watches as scenes from the little girl's life go by. The guru teaches her in the way of the samurai training her physically and mentally. The final scene occurred just as the girl turns fifteen. The old guru is standing behind her as she sits, her eyes are closed. He tells her to close her eyes, and he hands her a katana. She is overwhelmed with joy and gives him a hug. Her next words cut like a blade when she looks into the man's eyes and says, "I love you dad!" That is the last.

The emperor leaves just after he thanks Zordon for clarity, and the defense against the monsters. His spirit is broken, but glad that his little girl at least was happy, if not with him. On the boat ride back to Japan, the emperor has a new mission: to find his daughter. He watches the waves go by in the day and gazes at the stars in the night, wondering if his little girl can see the same stars.

When the emperor arrives, he finds his team in the infirmary. They all are lying on their backs unable to get up. When the young samurai sees the emperor, he gets out of his cot and falls to the ground. He kneels at the emperor's feet, sobbing. He apologizes for failing him. The emperor tries to help him up, but the young man won't let him, instead curls up into a ball at his feet. For the first time the emperor sees that the young samurai has a heart of gold and will not risk the wellbeing of his team to save others. He will only risk the wellbeing of himself. He grabs the young samurai's shoulders and yanks him up. Then he puts one arm around the boy's waist and walks him out to the garden.

They reach a bench under a cherry blossom tree. The emperor sits both him and the samurai down on the bench. The young samurai's face still streaked with tears as he looks down at his hands. The emperor tells him about how he knows that the young samurai visited the shrine and asks about the cherry blossoms he laid at the bottom of the shrine. The samurai says that for as long as he can remember, he just liked them. He always felt safe and at home under the branches of a cherry blossom tree. Only as he talks does the emperor notice how high his voice is and how small his frame is compared to most.

The emperor points to a window on a building behind the tree. He tells the samurai that was his daughter's room. He tells him the story, and what Zordon had shown him. As the tale goes on the samurai gets white. His hand brushes the side of his head, revealing a scar, previously covered by his long hair. Old memories fought their way back. Foggy at first, but soon clear. Most happy, but one terrifying moment of her kidnapping shook her. When the emperor sees the scar, he smiles, and embraces the samurai. The young samurai, confused at first, realizes that the emperor was her true father. She explains that the guru wanted her to follow in his footsteps, so he disguised her as a boy. She worked twice as hard and became the best to make him proud.

The emperor leads his daughter up to her old room. Everything is how it was the day she was taken. They walk over to where she slept and laid down. Father and daughter reunited at last. The young girl falls asleep quickly, but the emperor stays up much later. He had just gotten his daughter back and did not want to lose her a second time. In the morning he explains this to the girl and adds that she would put herself into the way of far too much harm if she tried to protect everyone while leading. Not so reluctantly she agreed and told him which should become the next leader.

At breakfast the emperor hands out the gifts from Zordon. Each was given a samuraizer, a device that allowed them to become the Power Rangers Samurai, and a folding Zord which could be used to create the Megazord, a giant samurai, as well as other weapons. Each were assigned colors and the new leader was decided upon. The African took up blue, the Germanic nomad took up yellow, the conquistador took up green, the young samurai took up pink, and the new leader, the knight, took up red. And thus the samurai would fight evil with success for eighteen generations to come, and while this is their origin, only one family knows the truth about how the samurai were formed. The protector, the shell, the pink.


	2. A Not-So-Merry Christmas

**Disclaimer: I do not own power rangers or The Grinch, and I really wish I did own Rudolf, but I still don't. All original characters and creative ideas are all mine though!**

**A/N: Hi, this is my first fic posted, and before you go asking me why I'm doing a Christmas fic in March, all I will say is that I just needed a starting point, and a friend wanted me to write a story for him that was about Santa for no apparent reason, so I came up with this. I hope you like it, and don't worry, it will not always be about Christmas. In the scheme of things, I will actually try to take it after Samurai. This may loosely tie into Power Rangers Samurai during and after "Christmas Together Friends Forever." Enjoy!**

Mia watched as her friends dashed from tree to tree trying to figure out which one would be perfect to bring back to the Shiba House. She lets out a loud sneeze then says to herself, "Ah, Christmas, the one time my allergies bug me inside _and_ out! Whose dumb idea was it to have a Christmas _tree_ anyways? What's wrong with a Christmas herb or a Christmas shrub?"

"The problem is when you are given a cheap ornament every year from your sister-in-law, then you would run out of room very quickly." An older man with snowy black hair* stated, "Plus, watching you guys pick one out wouldn't even be half as fun! I still can't believe you don't like Christmas!"

"When you're as allergic to it as I am you'd understand!" Mia snaps.

"You could at least give it a chance!" He defended that obnoxiously calm way he usually does. She begins to open her mouth to retort when she lets out a series sneezes. Mia rubs her nose. It is not hard to tell that this is the last place she would like to be right now and Mentor certainly wasn't making things any better. "Fine, this can wait, but this is not over. Here," he hands her an envelope and a little container, "your mother had me pick up your allergy medicine and told me to give you this letter. Remember you will have to tell me eventually." She sighs, pockets the letter, and takes the medicine.

This little exchange has been going on since Thanksgiving day when Mentor let Mia help him cook dinner, so long as she followed _his_ recipe to a tee. They were in the middle of making the stuffing when Mentor asked her what was her favorite Christmas memory. She tried to explain to him that she didn't like Christmas, and he freaked out when she said that she was allergic to Christmas trees.

Right as she begins to walk away from the older man, a hyperactive curly blonde rushes right up to her and drags her from tree to tree, seeing if each one is the right hight, with, and is green enough. She has Mia hold up at least twenty five trees as she inspects every single one for at least five minutes at a time. By the time they were done Mia's arms were as red and swollen as Mike's face the time he accidentally did the symbol for poisoned ivy instead of vine. She hid them under her jacket so her friend's wouldn't notice.

On the way back to the Shiba House, Mia walked slowly behind the others. She looked around at all of the decorations. Every shop was lined with lights and trees with gifts were in every window. Kids looked in awe at all of the toy stores filled with every item on their Christmas list. She sighed at the thought of how she never had the chance to be like those kids, even able to imagine that someone might give her her one wish. She looked ahead at her friends who were all smiling and laughing while helping Mentor push the wheelbarrow that contains the big green tree. She reaches into her pocket and grabs the letter. Mia looks at it for a few seconds, then she opens it up and a picture fell out. She put that aside and read the note. It said:

_Dear Mia,_

_I hope that you are doing well, and that you are having a good time despite the issue with the nilock monsters. Terry, your father, and I miss you very much. It hasn't been the same without you. Terry wants me to tell you that since you are not hear, he forced us to get a real tree this year. You should have seen him at the Christmas tree sale, running from tree to tree like a maniac! You would have been laughing so hard! I got it all on video for you. When you get home, we have to watch it together! He wanted me to put in a picture of him next to it in the letter. I will admit, there is something special that a piece of green and brown plastic just cannot provide._

_Listen, I know that this time of year is not particularly your favorite, but please just try to enjoy it for the sake of the other rangers. Don't you dare say that you hate Christmas around them! They like it, and I don't want you to ruin it for them. Mentor nearly had a heart attack. This is the one thing that Jayden has when it comes to a normal life, and he was right outside in the hallway when you said that. Just pretend that you do like it, for his sake, and things will run as smoothly as possible. In regards to your allergies, I told Mentor to pick up your medicine, if they ask you to help with the ornaments or the decoration, just suck it up. It won't kill you (and before you mentally retort, I checked with the doctor. She said it won't kill you)! You're a strong kid, and I know that you'll do it for your friends. Mia, I know that you don't want me to write this, but Merry Christmas!_

_Love,_

_Mom_

Mia rolls her eyes and looks at the back of the picture. In big, sloppy letters, her brother wrote _Merry Christmas Grinchie!_ Underneath it is a ginormous smiley face wearing a Santa hat. She sighs when her eyes reach that obnoxious nickname that her brother gave her especially for this time of year. She flipped the picture over to see the image on the front. Her brother was wearing a big, tacky, red, Christmas sweater, smiling, and pointing at the obviously not fake tree. He looked so proud. She can only think of how happy he probably is. There was no possible way that anybody could deny that the reason that he couldn't have his big tree until now was her fault. That wretched nickname _Grinchie _keeps on slipping back into her mind. She had never let it really bother her, but now as she remembers every time he said it, and how true it seems, it stings like a swarm of bees.

"Hey, Mia, are you ok?" a concerned Emily (previously known as the hyperactive blond) asked.

Mia looks up and quickly hides her arms back under her jacket along with the picture. "Yeah, why?" she responded with her eyes to the ground.

"Your eyes are tearing up, and you've been really quiet."

"Em, I'm fine. I've got allergies."

Emily narrowed her eyes, and bluntly asked "In December?"

"Evergreen." Mia replied sheepishly revealing her right arm from under her jacket. Making sure to keep the left, with the note, hidden.

When Emily saw Mia's arms her eyes widened. She screamed, "Oh, my gosh Mia! How? Was that from the trees? Are you..."

"Emily, calm down! I will be fine. My mom sent Mentor my allergy medicine, and once that starts to kick in I'll be fine, you know." When Emily's concerned look did not wipe off her face, Mia continued, "I'm used to this, me and my brother pick one out every year, see?" She slipped out the picture of her brother. Emily looks at it and smiles.

"Well, I guess that Christmas wouldn't be the same without a real tree. Green and brown plastic just wouldn't give the same warm feeling, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Mia sighed. "Terry says that his favorite part of _real _Christmas trees are the smell, but I barely even know what it smell like."

Once again, Emily was shocked, "Really? That's what makes the whole house feel like Christmas! How do you not know how they smell?"

"It's simple really, every time I get close enough to get a whiff of one, my nose gets stuffed up and I start sneezing like crazy!" Both girls started cracking up. Emily wraps her arm around Mia's neck and trails behind with her friend, giving her company while she tries to breathe.

The guys are working on the tree while Mia is in the kitchen baking her "delicious" cookies. Emily is finishing up an email to her older sister, Serena. Kevin and Mike are talking and decorating the tree. Jayden, Mentor, and Antonio are nowhere to be found until Jayden storms into the house looking furious.

"Hey guys, get in here! What did you do?" Jayden yelled. Mike, Kevin, and Emily run and meet their leader in the foyer.

"What are you talking about?" Kevin inquired.

"You know! Mentor's hopping mad, you guys better get out there. Where's Mia?"

"Right here!" the exasperated girl panted, "I was taking my cookies out of the oven when you called. I didn't want them to burn."

"Guys, get outside right now, before Mentor freaks!" Jayden insists. The rangers run outside only to find Mentor and Antonio with a huge grin plastered on their faces. Mentor had prepared a small surprise for the rangers with the enlisted help of Jayden and Antonio. Somehow they have managed to lug a projector and a ginormous tarp into the training area. They hung it on the cabana where Antonio usually cooks lunch (unbeknownst to Mia generally to save the others from her culinary horrors). All around were Christmas lights, and on the wooden ground where they spar, several mattresses were sprawled on top.

"You guys are not in proper attire! Antonio, did you do the laundry like I asked?" Mentor questioned, trying not to burst out laughing.

"Oh no! Must have slipped my mind!" Antonio replied in an extremely rehearsed tone.

"Oh, well I guess you'll have to wear these." he said in the same tone Antonio used, and handed out Christmas decorated footie pajamas with colors corresponding with their ranger colors. The rangers giggles as they received their "uniform." As they all walk off Mentor yells after them, "Be quick or else!" Causing the rangers to laugh even louder.

When they came back Mentor was wearing his own set of pajamas that were white, and had brought out blankets and popcorn. They all sat down and wrapped themselves up in the big fluffy blankets. The cold air felt nice with the warm attire. Mentor walks up to the projector stationed in front of them, and began playing a movie. Mia's heart sunk the moment the narrator began his monologue. The Grinch. She watched, heart getting heavier minute by minute. Every time the Grinch tries to steal something, or acts like a grouch, a different memory pops into her head.

"_Hey, Mia, guess what?" Fourteen year old Mia opens her eyes to see her hyperactive little brother's pimply brace-face inches away from her own. She lifts her head from the pillow just enough to see her clock. It reads 5:26 a.m._

"_What, Terry?" Mia groans. She knows what he will say, but she decides to let him have his fun. It's not like she can get back to sleep any time soon._

"_Seven more days till Christmas! Are you excited? I bet you're not as excited as I am! I can't wait for Santa to come and bring me all kinds of stuff! I bet you're gonna get coal, 'aint that right, Grinchie?" Terry laughs at his joke as his sister roll over so her back is facing him. "You're a mean one, Missy Grinch! You're a nasty wasty skunk!" he sings, "Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk, Missy Gri…HEY!" he yells as Mia throws her pillow at him._

"_Get out, Terry!" Mia screams. She turns around and throws another pillow at him._

"_But…"_

"_Now!"_

_He pouts, "I'M TELLING MOM!"_

"_GROW UP!" she yells back._

Eventually her mind wondered off to the picture, and then back to the wretched nickname. The Grinch is about to drop all of the presents off the mountain, and she feels like she is going to cry. She slowly distanced herself from the group. _"If I could get inside, I could just go to sleep."_ she thought. She was about to sneak off, when Kevin grabbed her heal.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Restroom" she replied.

"Ok, come back soon." he whispered, and then faced back toward the screen. He makes it a bit obvious that he has never seen this movie. His eyes are wide and expectant, almost as if he is waiting to find out whether or not he will actually drop all of Whoville's presents off of the mountain.

Mia tip-toes back inside the Shiba house, to not disturb anyone else, and when she clears the doorway, the tears start flowing. She goes as fast as she can to her room, only to figure out where Mentor got all of the mattresses from. She slumps down on the floor next to her bed frame and shakily takes out the picture one more time. She stared at the crude lettering and then, her brother's smiling face. Then, Mia put the picture down in her lap, reaches up into her bedside table drawer, and pulls out another picture. In it she sees six smiling faces, all with the same jet-black hair and chocolate eyes, none wearing anything posh. They are gathered around a small Christmas tree the size of a chihuahua. Two adults each had one of the younger children sitting on their laps. The woman had a little boy only about four years old, and the man had a little girl who could not have been more than a year older than the boy. Standing behind them were two twin boys leaning into the picture. They were about nine, or possibly ten years old, and could not be told apart by anything other than their torn and well-worn Christmas sweaters. One is read and the other is green. The two younger children are wearing hand-me-down sweaters like the ones their older brothers are wearing. The mother is wearing a black training uniform with pink stripes and the Shiba symbol and a Santa hat. The father is wearing a navy uniform, reindeer antlers, and a red nose. The room has tacky wallpaper that is peeling at the edges. It is tainted with stains and blotches of unknown origin. She still remembers that small apartment on the base. That was when she still actually liked Christmas.

_Four year old Mia watches as her mom sets up a beat up old camera on a beat up, old tripod. She has no clue where she's been for the past few months, but she's glad that she is back. The truth is, she really likes Mom's surprise visits because they always do fun stuff like eat ice cream and go to the zoo, but whenever the fun just starts, the man in red comes and makes her go back to work._

"_Hey, James! That's mine. I always wear the green sweater!" Jackson yells at his twin._

"_Yeah, but I don't like red, I want to wear green for once!" James retorts. They go on like this for a while until they notice their little sister watching them. "Hey, what are you looking at, Squirt?"_

_She giggles, "Nuting, Jamie!"_

_The boys smile, and Jackson pipes in, "You sure? 'Cause it looks like you're looking at something."_

"_I'm chure, Jackie!" she giggles some more. The two boys look at each other, then back at their sister._

"_Ok, Squirt!" James says as Jackson walks behind her. In a split second Jackson lifts her in the air and makes airplane noises. The little girl is hysterically laughing now. James comes right up to her and tickles her tummy, making her laugh even harder._

_James looks down and sees his little brother pulling on his pant leg. "What's up, Terry?"_

"_My turn! My turn! My turn!" the little boy squeals._

"_Okay!" he yells as he hoists the little boy in the air. They don't realize that their parents are watching the whole scene snapping pictures of it as they go. Once the boys get tired, they put Mia and Terry down. They then put on their sweaters after a little more bickering and get into the position around the Christmas tree. James presses the button on the camera, and runs into the picture before the timer goes off._

Mia looks up from the picture with a river of tears streaming down her face. "I miss you guys. I hope you know it. I'm still waiting for you to come home." she whimpers in a low voice. She puts her head between her knees and begins to sob softly. Her shaky hands clasp behind her neck and she gently bites her bottom lip to keep quiet. Seeing the most gentle and kind ranger in so much pain could bring a grown man to tears, and it did, because unknown to her, there was an unexpected visitor standing outside her door hearing every word she said.

**A/N: I'm not good at writing romance, so any ideas would be helpful. Right now I'm going for Kia, but it could also become a Jia if any ideas come my way. Please Review!**

***Snowy Black-a polite way to say black hair with grey streaks (my family uses it all the time)**


	3. A Half-True Revelation

**A/N:** **Once again, thanks so much for reading. This probably will be my last Christmas chapter, and it's a short one. Thank you GoseiShinkenPink and shreya27r for reviewing! I have an idea for romance and it involves a very jealous Jayden. Enjoy and please review!**

The next morning, Mike stormed the house screaming, "IT"S CHRISTMAS! WAKE UP! IT'S CHRISTMAS! Mia rolled over in her bed, now complete with mattress. She sighs and forces herself out of bed, and walks over to her dresser and pulls out a white sweater. She slips it on and puts a fake smile on over her face and walks out. When she gets to the Christmas tree, she sees everyone doing the same. When she looks over to the chimney, she sees that all of the stockings had been filled with little goodies and treats.

She smiled gratefully when they gave her the cook book (as if she didn't know that her cooking was horrible), chewed on a candy cane (pretending to enjoy it), smiled when Mike saw the green Harley-Davidson they all pitched in to pay for (ignoring how his smile made her blood boil), laughed as he drove off like a maniac (though she still seethed), and smiled when Mike returned empty handed after he gave it away (remembering that he has changed).

Mia's thoughts linger to the school days after the disappearance. How that little twit pushed her around at her lowest time.

_A little girl walks through the halls. Her head is held low, her eyes are tinged with red, and her eyes match. She hugs her books tightly as she can. She walks past the gym just as a group of students get out of class. The girl barely even notices, until she feels someone jerk on her backpack. Before she can see who it is, she is pulled back and shoved into the garbage. Her tormentor runs away before anyone can see, the girl already knows who he is. No one helps her out; they walk by without even noticing._

She is about to go back to her room, when someone stops her.

"Mia, can we talk, you know, about last night? You never came back and Mike thought he heard you crying." Emily shyly asked. The girl gives her a look of concern with her big puppy dog eyes. Mia sighs. She can never say no to Emily, she's like her younger sister. She just does not want to reveal anything.

Mia looks down and then back at Emily. She rolls her eyes, says, "Come on," and leads the young blonde into her room. She gestures for Emily to sit down on her bed as she grabs the pictures from her bedside table and hands them over to the young girl. Then she sits down beside her friend.

"That's my dad," she said pointing to the man in the uniform, "and that's my Mom, the previous pink ranger," pointing to the adults. "My dad was a captain in the navy at the time this was taken. Now he's an admiral."

"Wait, but I thought that..."

Mia interrupts, "Yeah, I know the rule. Mom was not Mr. Shiba's favorite person in the world. She loved to get on his nerves and used to joke that his military background was one of the reasons she married him."

"Well, I guess that it's not like she went into war. Just because her husband did does not mean that she did. I guess she kind of stayed impartial."

"Yeah…well, we don't talk much. Anyways, that's Terry, my younger brother, he's a freshman in high school us and he is trying to become a doctor."

"Wait, then are they your brothers too?"

"They were, but now, well..." her voice cracked and tears once again began to flow, "Now they are gone. Four years ago, on Christmas Eve." Her whole body shook and tears flowed. Emily was speechless. Mia tried to say more, but Emily stopped her. She wraps the pink ranger in a warm, comforting hug. Slowly her friend calms down.

"You've said enough. Do you want me to tell the others or would you like to?"

"I...I...I'll tell them, when I'm ready. For now, can we keep this between us?"

Emily looked at her teary-eyed friend and smiled, "Of course." Yet, in the back of her head, Emily had a sneaking suspicion that time would never come, and there was so much more to this story, than what her friend bestowed upon her, but she knew that the pink ranger could not, and would not, say. Though her heart told her, that soon this unknown information will resurface, and once more the rip in the rangers' trust will be torn even further apart, and one day the delicate fabric will be torn apart. Will they be able to mend it?

**A/N: I hope that you liked it, and just to clarify, I've had an unusual amount of time on my hands, if you were wondering about the rapid fire updating. I wish that this were normal, but if it were, I would have about 20 stories up already. I promise, though, that I will do my best to update at least once or twice a week. Please give me your reviews, comments, and anything that you want to see happen in this.**


	4. Fire Starter

**A/N: Hey! After a battle with an obnoxious computer, an unwanted application, writers block, and lack of valid information, I have created this chapter. It is set during "The Tengen Gate," but what I could not figure out was whether or not this episode happened before or after "Christmas Together Friends Forever" since it was a Christmas special, so for the purposes of the story, it happened after. Thanks again for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it so much! Enjoy!**

As quick as Christmas in the Shiba house came, it went. After the other rangers discovered Mia's allergies, they offered to take down the tree. At first, she would not hear of it, but after the tenth botched sparring match due to a headache/sneezing fit the tree was promptly discarded of. She felt rather bad, but couldn't dwell on it for long. They had business to deal with. The red ranger would not tell them what, but there was something important that the rangers needed to do.

Mike leads the way through the woods jumping off of trees swinging on an occasional branch. Kevin scoffs at his "childish" behavior. He is just waiting for their task to evolve physical ability, and for it Mike to soil it all. "No offence, Emily, but I think Mike should have gotten the ape zord." Kevin sarcastically remarks.

She laughs, "Well, I've actually been thinking the same thing! So, none taken."

Mia watches the green ranger run around like a maniac, laughing all the way. _"He sure has changed, though. Sometimes, I forget that him, and the little monster from grade school are the same person!"_ Mia chuckles and trudges along the road as an old memory pokes at her mind.

_"Hey, give it back!" a short, nine year old girl screams. Her raven black hair is pulled into a ponytail and her floral shirt is buttoned to the top with a pink sweater vest on top. She reaches up in an attempt to grasp her math book that is being dangled above her head by a young boy in cargo pants. His hair is brown with the tips dyed green, and his eyes read mischief and trouble for his pint-sized victim. He pulls the book just out of her reach every time she goes for it and holds it now behind his head. "Come on! GIVE IT!" He smirks at her and shakes his head. Then, the tormentor throws it up on top of her locker. The little girl expects him to leave her alone, so she turns around and stands on the tips of her toes trying to reach it. Sadly for her, he did not leave. Instead, just as she is about to get it, the boy grabs her ponytail and drags her down the hall._

_He laughs as he pulls her past the other children, who look the other way. Not one person willing to help. She is shoved into the merciless hands of another. Her new captor is a tall, red-headed girl who drags her into the girl's restroom. Now, knowing what will happen next, the girl is desperate, trying to fight back with little very success. She pleads with the taller girl to let her go._

_"Please, please, please, PLEASE don't do this! I swear I'll do anything! Just don't do this!" she begs._

_The girl almost laughs at her. "Sorry! Not gonna happen!" She swings open the door to one stall with one hand, while grasping the little girl's vest and shirt with the other. The little girl is forced onto her knees in front of the toilet. The redheaded girl's grip is transferred from her vest to her head. With one hand. she pushes her victim's face down into the commode, and with the other she flushes. The little girl coughs and chokes on the putrid water as it swirls around her head. She begins to get light headed as her head is lifted up for a moment, allowing her some time to breathe, before her head is plunged in again. After this is repeated at least half a dozen times, she is thrown out of the stall, onto the bathroom floor. She coughs up about a gallon of water before she is once more dragged into the hallway which is now almost empty._

_The redheaded girl passes her off to her partner, and he drags her back down the hallway. The little girl, stumbling along, barely registers that he slams her into the lockers, walls, doors, and anything in their path. When the boy finally reaches her locker, he shoves the book back into her hands, and pushes her in. She is so shaken by the frequent occurrence that she didn't even listen for the click of her locker being locked. She rests her head against the door with her hands wrapped around her waist and sobs. The little girl knows that someone eventually will pass by and unlock her from her cage, but until then, she waits, banging on the metal door._

"Mia…Mia…Mia?" The pink ranger feels her friend shaking her shoulder and turns towards her. Until then she had been staring at the ground. Mia turns to Emily and smiles. "We're here!" Emily exclaims.

The rangers walk up towards the Tengen Gate, something that looks akin to an old traditional structure, despite the fact that it is just outside of Panorama City. An older, bald man with a wispy beard and a traditional kimono, Daisuke, comes out to greet them. _"He looks a lot like Uncle Kanoi." _she thought to herself as they walk inside and engage in small talk that quickly loses Mia's attention. She walks towards an old painting that has also caught Kevin's eye.

"It's an old folk tale," Daisuke said as he wakes up behind them. "A woman made a deal with the Nighlock King to saver her husband after their house caught fire, but he tricked her, and turned them both into nighlocks. He whipped the man's memory and cursed him to roam the earth alone for eternity."

"That sounds like something that a nighlock would do." Kevin spits out. He shakes his head in disapproval, as if that one small story, that could possibly not even be true, reassured him of his mission. The rangers are used to him getting like this. He is very passionate about his job, which is what makes him one of the best.

Mia runs her fingers gently over the image of the woman holding her husband in her arms. She can't help but think of how familiar this feels. "It's weird," she thinks out loud, "it's as if I know her." She stares dreamily at the painting as an old memory resurfaces. One that she constantly pushes back down, but the mere mention of fire brings it back to the front line (so living down the hall from Jayden kind of has not been helping with the 'pushing it down' bit). A memory of flames, sadness, and in the end, friendship.

_WeeOhhWeeOhhWeOhh! The fire alarm screams. She wants to escape her small cage, but she is trapped. Walls of metal turn locker into furnace. She screams and kicks at the walls of her prison, just trying to get anybody's attention. She can hear the other students running past her prison, but none of them stop to help. She doesn't even know if they can hear her. Soon, the locker filled with smoke causing her to cough. She feels dizzy, but keeps at it. Her back and knees are bloody and burnt from the flaming walls. The chaotic sound of the other kids has now vanished. She is alone, and she doesn't think that anybody will come. The only sounds are the flames ripping through the school, wood falling, paper disintegrating, and one little girl baking in a small oven-like snare. She gives up hope that anyone will come, but all of a sudden, a man's voice echoes throughout the hall._

_"Is anybody in here?" the deep voice calls._

_"O…o…over h…h…here!" she replies. She kicks as hard as she can against the walls of the locker._

_"Do you know which room you're in?" he screams._

_"L…l…locker 163!" She pounds with all of her might. Soon, she hears the man breathing outside of her cage. She can hear him messing with the lock, and the eventual ping of it falling on the ground. He swings open the locker door and scoops her up into his arms. He put his mask over her mouth and instructs her to breathe through it. He carries her outside and towards an ambulance, dodging falling wood, and debris. She is gently laid on a gurney. Vaguely she hears three familiar voices. She musters almost all of her strength to just simply look up. Though her vision is blurry, she can just barely make out two taller figures and a shorter one. They are fighting with the paramedics about something, but she can't distinguish what they are saying. One of the paramedics strap her to the gurney and put a neck brace on. She can not move, but she is to weak to do so anyways. She begins to black out just as she fells a big rough hand grab her own._

"The tea is ready," a young man with a shaved head announces. Mia turns around and sits with the others. She smiles gratefully as she receives her cup (though she is not thirsty), she listens to the others (though she is greatly distracted), and she runs outside with the others to fight the monster (though she'd rather stay and protect her poisoned leader).

The monster leads them outside the compound, deep into the woods. As the fight ensues, the rangers are weakened. Blow, by blow, none of them can even make a dent, while the monster pummels them. As she battles with consciousness, the monster strikes. Soon, she can only see night.

**A/N: I hope you liked it! Because of the flashback, I'm thinking of upping the rating, you tell me what you think, and thanks to shreya27r, this will officially be a Jia. Give me your feedback, tell me what you like, what you don't, and really anything on your mind that relates to my story!**


	5. Lost In Thought

**A/N: Well, I needed to distract myself from my own personal defeat today, so I wrote another chapter after, even though I posted the previous one, a few hours ago. Don't ask questions, but let's put it this way, you know that a match is not going well when you start out by hitting your partner in the back with your first serve!**

Mia looks out the window of the infirmary, lost in thought. Just thinking about the girl in the story, and fire in general. _"That girl lost everything because of the Nighlock. I wonder if they set her house on fire. I mean it sounds about right. I wonder if that is what happened to me as well. Two rangers in one school, it sure makes some sense. Plus, I had to walk down that hall every day, same time, and 90% of the time the principal would have to get me out of that wretched locker. I wonder..."_ Mia looks over at Mike. He is playing some sort of game on his DSi. Probably that stupid Power Rangers Samurai game he found at the store last week. The rangers watched him defeat if the first time, laughing at how off the game designers got the weapon names, monsters (the Moogers were called the Noogles, and the Nighlock were called the Frightfrock), and especially the personalities of the rangers. In the game Mia, or should I say Caliegh, was totally boy crazy and just plain crazy. Kevin, or should I say Derek was the equivalent of Mike, and Mike, who was called Sam, was basically Kevin. They were actually close to Antonio, Anton, and Jaden, Zach, but Emily was way off. She was Sydney, the biker chick who loved adrenaline and constantly clashed with Caliegh. The ranger found this utterly hilarious the first time, but after the twentieth time of being asked if Mia had a new fancy or if Emily was going to check out the new Harley-Davidson shop, the two girls especially were sick of it.

One thing the game did get right was Mike's green hair. They just needed to go back a couple of years. Mia still can barely keep herself from laughing every time she thinks about what he used to look like with that ridiculous hair-do. One day she will use it against him, but if he finds her out, then he would have just as much to laugh about. _Something tells me that he will find the sweater vest rather entertaining."_ Mia thinks to herself. That is why she stays quiet (not saying much), and that is why her story is closed (awaiting to be told at the right place, at the right time), that is why nobody knows (though she is dying to tell).

Then her eyes glance over to the only empty bed in the room, and is filled with worry, hoping that Jayden will be ok. He was kidnapped by Deker after he was poisoned. _"I sure hope he's ok. We just need him to be. There is no way this team can go on without him. Man, I should have told him. He should know about…no…the truth only would tarnish a dead man's reputation. What's the point in that? I just…well…I feel guilty about keeping this from him…but we all have our secrets, so it's not that bad…but it's his right to know…but it's none of his business…still it is his…"_

She is awoken from thought when she sees Kevin attempting to get out of bed at the sound of the gap sensor. She is the only one watching him as he collapses to the ground. "Kevin! You're weak from the battle yesterday. You need to rest." Mia scolds sternly.

"I can't just sit around and wait!" he retorts. She can see that there is no way she will reason with him. He's just about as stubborn as he is passionate about the ranger biz. She painfully slips out of her bed and walks around to his, supporting herself on anything that she can hold onto, and helps him up.

"You can't do it alone. We have to do it together, as a team!" Emily and Mike begin to walk towards them, helping each other as they go. _"Ok, so that came out a bit cheesier and generic than intended, but I guess it worked."_ They all walk out supporting each other as they go, trudging into the main room, where Mentor and Antonio are working on a new weapon called the black box.

"You should be in bed." Mentor scorns. _"You try reasoning with Kevin, and then you'll see that the Nighlock might be the safer option!"_ Mia thought to herself. They run off into another battle with the Nighlock from yesterday without their battle disks. Those were entrusted to Antonio, who was still tinkering with the black box with no success.

**A/N: How many secrets does Mia have? The connections will soon come to light, and a lot of things will make a whole lot more sense. If anybody has anything to say, then review. I love constructive criticism. I don't get that from my computer, so please give me a hand.**


	6. Cheese Pizza and Paradise

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Power Rangers, Moonlight, Twilight, or TMNT.**

**A/N: This is going to open up the idea that I got a while back. Once again may seem confusing, but after a while it will make some sense.**

They all stood and watched as the Nighlock monster sped off. At the second battle he seemed to be more savage than anything else. Not as cunning, but twice as powerful. A familiar hand is placed on her shoulder, and despite the sharp pain that surges from the fresh wound from the previous day's battle that lay beneath the hand, she smiles. _"It sure is a good thing I have my helmet on right now!"_ Mia thinks to herself, because she is almost certain that she has a big goofy grin on her face right now.

She turns and faces her leader, who gives her a big bear hug. She tries to hold it in, but a little groan escapes her. "Oh, sorry." he apologizes.

She chuckles, "Its ok, I'm just glad that your back!"

"Me to!" he jokes. For a second, his hand lingers on her back, still gently hugging her, until Antonio and Kevin pull him away, to bombard him with several useless questions about what had happened, no doubt.

* * *

Jayden was perched on a bench alone, just thinking to himself. Everyone could tell that something was on his mind, and everyone also knew that there was absolutely no way of getting it out of him. Kevin suggested trying to come up with a new strategy for defeating the new, stronger, more savage Nighlock, and Mike said that he'll do it for pizza. Nothing more, nothing less. Emily giggles when Kevin mouths _"Of course"_ to the others, but Mia's able to keep a straight face. The rangers, minus Jayden, go and pick up the pizza. The day was nice and all of the rangers are joking and laughing as they go.

Mike does several flips as they walk, and after six successful flips in a row, he lands face first in the garbage can. All of the rangers burst out laughing, and Mia can't help but think how ironic it is that now a days he is dumping himself in the trash can!

As they pass the cinema, Emily looks over at the list of movies showing. Her eyes scan until she finds the one she's looking for. "Oh my gosh! Hey, guys it's finally out!"

"What's out, chica?" Antonio questions.

"That new spy movie! We have to go see it on our next day off! It's about a teen spy who goes under cover as someone she isn't, but also has to dodge suspicion from her kindergarten crush who just so happens to be there the whole time. Supposedly it's really good!"

"Does it have Chaning Tatem, that guy from 'Moonlight' who can't keep his shirt on, singing and dancing every five minutes, or overkill romance?" Mike asks.

"No, no. no, and no, and his name is Taylor Laughtner, plus its called 'Twilight,' not 'Moonlight.'" She says flatly.

"Fine then, let's see the movie on our next day off! Oh, and I meant to say 'Moonlight.'"

"Wasn't 'Moonlight' a cop show about a vampire?" Kevin wonders.

"Yeah, and guess what? He only worked the night shift." Mike joked. Everybody groans.

* * *

When they get there, Mike marches up to the woman behind the counter and orders first, "I'll have a medium cheese with pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, pineapple, ham, turkey, anchovies, almonds, avocado, salami, sausage, peanuts, peas, zucchini, blue cheese, goat cheese, feta, gorgonzola, cheddar, colby, jack, mozzarella, ricotta, romano, provolone, camembert…" As Mike drones on, Mia begins to regret saying that she'll pick up the tab. "oysters, prawns, salmon, shrimps, smoked salmon, squid, tuna, whitebait, beetroot, black beans, broccoli, capers, capicolla, carrot, cherry tomatoes, dried tomatoes, eggplant, fungi, fungi carciofi…" He doesn't look like he's going to stop. Mia looks down at her feet, wishing every second that she hadn't opened her mouth.

"_It wasn't too long ago that I didn't EVER mutter a single word. Boy, I wish I could go back to those days! Ever since then, my big fat mouth has gotten me into more trouble than it's worth!" _Mia thought to herself. After the fire incident, Mia had sustained a head injury that caused her to stutter every few words. She stopped talking for months, and it took a whole year to get her speech back to normal.

"roast cauliflower, roasted eggplant, roasted garlic, roasted peppers…"

Finally Kevin butts in, "Just so you know, Mike, you're paying for this!"

"…venison…wait…what? I thought that Mia was paying? She said she would!" Mike exclaims.

Antonio answers this time, "Amigo, hermanita said she would pay for a _PIZZA_, not the pizza _HUT_!"

"I only was ordering the basics!" Mike defends himself, as if he had been told this after he had only ordered a glass of water.

"Mike, nobody else will eat this aside from you, and I'm hungry!" Emily whined.

"Bu…wa…co…uh…_MIA_! Come on, you said that you would buy the pizza!"

Mia's been quiet this whole time, despite the fact that the whole conversation was about her. She mumbles her response, "Well, Ididn'tknowthatyouweregonnaorderallofthiswhenIsaidthat…"

"What did you say?" Mike demands. Mia feels like shrinking back into her shell. "I couldn't hear a word you just said."

_"Story of my life!"_ she thinks to herself. "I didn't really think that you were going to order all of this when I said that, but I know that I did say that I would..."

"Mia, this is outrageous, you don't have to pay for all of this, and that's final!" Kevin interrupted. He almost was laughing as he says this. Mia feels her face go red, and her eyes go back to her shoes. Mike looks from friend to friend. Nobody's budging.

Mike lets out a long sigh. "Fine," he turns to the woman at the counter, "make it a small."

She is suppressing a laugh when she asks, "Anything else with that, sir?"

"No." he grumbles. He pulls out his wallet to pay her but comes up a good ten dollars short. "Mia, could I borrow fifteen bucks?"

"Wait, you only owe ten. What's the other five for?" Mia questions.

"I want to go to the arcade!"

"Fine, here's _TEN._"

"Thanks." He walks to the end of the counter to wait for his order.

Kevin steppes up after him, "One medium cheese with pepperoni please."

"Anything else with that, sir?" the woman repeats.

"No, thanks." Kevin replies. The others go to join Mike while Mia pays for the pizza.

"Interesting friends you got there." The woman jokes.

"I'll say!"

The woman glances over to Mike and says, "That Mike seems to be a bit of a handful!"

"You have no idea." Mia looks over to her friends, and especially towards Mike. _"He orders more on his pizza than Michelangelo! I honestly didn't think that was possible until he said the word anchovies. Michelangelo never orders anchovies."_ The woman hands Mia her change and joins her friends. "I think I figured a way to defeat the Nighlock!" she whispers just loud enough that all of the rangers could hear. "Antonio should build a weapon that launches Mike's pizza at them. When they see the price they'll want to blow up themselves!" They laughed the whole way home.

* * *

When they get back, Jayden is still sitting on the bench deep in thought. It takes some heckling, but eventually, they get him to join. When he does Mia dawns the goofy grin, and thankfully no one notices. As they walk in they begin to tell Jayden about Mike's pizza, and end with Mia's idea about defeating the Nighlock and the unveiling of the pizza.

"Mike, that's not a pizza, that's just a mountain of food on a dough plate!" Jayden laughs.

"That's the best part!" Mike beams. He begins to dig into his personal heart-attack-in-a-box, getting food everywhere.

"Hey, Mike!" Kevin yells, "you gonna go get the ten bucks you owe Mia, or what?"

Mike lifts his face from the pizza, and looks over to Mia. His cheeks are puffed up like a chipmunk's, and replies with pizza falling out of his mouth all over himself, "Uh, I'll have to get back to you on that!"

Mia rolls her eyes. _"Some things NEVER change!"_ she thinks. She grabs a piece of his monstrosity, and when he asks her what she's doing she replies, "Now, we're even." and continues to eat. _"Aside from the price, this is not that bad."_

**A/N: I hope you enjoy the chapter, hoped it makes you laugh! Notice the Michelangelo reference. Seriously though, I really would like it if you could leave your thoughts and opinions about this story. Any help you could give me would be awesome, and if you want me to keep writing this story, I seriously need help with romance scenes, because I usually omit them from my stories. So, if you want a Jia with a hint of Memily, then please, please, PLEASE give me some help. Thanks to everyone who reads this and enjoys this. I sure love writing for you guys!**


	7. The Hack

**A/N: So sorry for the late update. I was in Amsterdam with my friends and didn't have a converter for my computer charger, or my computer charger, or internet connection (was not risking going into a coffee shop). I tried to make this one a bit longer, and I'm going to lengthen out my chapters from now on. I do hope you like it, and as usual all reviews, ideas, ANYTHING would be nice. You could even put down what you had for breakfast! Just write it in the reviews, and I'll try to respond! Enjoy!**

Antonio is yelling, frustrated at the black box. It is not responding to anything he tried. The others were outside training, and listening in to Antonio's rant, though it was mostly in Spanish. Mia sighs and walks over to Mentor.

"I know you know that I could help him _AND_ speed up the process." she whispers into his ear.

"Then, I know you know that I can't allow that despite the fact that you could _POSSIBLY_ help." he whispers back.

Mia glares at him and then responds, "I don't think that _HE _should have much of a say in this anymore, plus you know that was a big misunderstanding! He totally over reacted!"

"But I still have my orders." Mentor's calm tone and undaunted disposition irked Mia even more.

"Yeah, but because of those orders I paid the price! And might I remind you, _IT REALY HURT!"_ she whines. Mentor glances over at the other rangers who are still training. Mia got the message and quieted down again. "I understand that he was important to you, but I really don't care about him, I care about the sake of my friends! You know that! I'm not seven years old anymore, Mentor. Now, I know a bit more about common sense."

"Mia, if this is about removing the symbol, it's not gonna happen." Mentor taunts. "As I said before, that symbol's not coming off unless you somehow defeat Master Xandred! Not just seal him away, but _DEFEAT!_"

"It has nothing to do with that! We need the black box, and I can help program it. You know that I can, but because of some stupid…"

"Don't disrespect Jayden's father, the previous red ranger, the man who gave his life to seal away Master Xandred…"

"Didn't do a very good job of it!" she hisses. "If he truly was looking out for us, he would have known better than to persecute members of his team for such trivial means!"

She strikes a chord when she says this. Mentor becomes even quieter, "He had his reasons."

Mia smirks and shakes her head in disbelief. "Reasons? Name one."

"Tradition, Mia, tradition. Your mother knows the rules about military involvement for Samurai, and yet she defied it." Mia rolls her eyes at a lecture given to her several times before. "So did your brothers, and so do you. John was given the authority to…"

"Not to attack a kid for being born! Nobody has the authority to do that!" The air is thick between the two. Mia looks him right into the eyes, unafraid. Mentor is not used to being challenged. Usually Jayden just blindly follows whatever order is bestowed upon him, and a yes is a yes and a no is a no. Mike is a pain, but listens to reason, but Mia is much more stubborn and daring than all of the rangers combined. While Mia is responsible, kind, and protective of the others, sometimes she just rubs him the wrong way.

"We will discuss this later. Get back to training, _NOW!_" She narrows her eyes and goes back to sparing with Emily. When Emily raises a questioning eyebrow, Mia just shakes her head.

* * *

Deep in the night everyone is asleep. Well, almost everyone. There is a girl with raven hair stalking through the night. The girl approaches the door of the room set aside for Antonio's work on the black-box. She slides open the door without creating a sound and tiptoes into the room. She finds the gold ranger slumped against the wall and the black box set up on a podium. She quietly sets down a computer on the ground and opens up her samuraizer. She focuses all of her energy on the small box and begins writing a wall of symbols in the air. It translates to basic programing code. By the time she is done writing, the symbol reaches from the ceiling to the floor.

Then, with a swipe of her samurizer, the symbols are sent into the black box. She stands expectantly for only a few seconds until golden symbols burst from the black box, and line every wall. With the swipe of her hand she can scroll through them all, analyzing each one.

"Antonio, what mess did you get me into?" she sighs. Then the girl goes about her work, editing, erasing, and changing all of the inappropriate symbols, and changing them to the correct one. As she goes on she begins to realize something and mutters to herself, "Thank you, Cam, for those boring nights we spent together when Mom needed you to watch me. If you didn't put me to sleep with your programing lingo, then we wouldn't have a black box," the hacker glances over to Antonio, "or a gold ranger. One more wrong symbol, and he would've blown himself up."

Once she finishes the edits, the hacker sends the symbols back into the box. Then the hacker creeps over to Antonio's sleeping form, and slips his samurai morpher out of his hand. Then as she looks into its history (the first thing he made easy for her), and saw that he had placed the dragon zord's symbol into the box already, but since she'd redone everything, she would have to do it again herself. The girl places his morpher on the ground and writes more symbols in the air to format it to the black box. The hacker sends them into the morpher, and then walks over to pick it up.

"_So, I guess his is kindof like texting?"_ she thinks to herself as she stares down at his device. The hacker types a few symbols into the gadget, and then points it at the dragon zord disk. She plants her feet and braces herself just before she hits _enter_. The symbol flies out and hits the disk. The girl grunts, not anticipating the extra symbol power it would take to execute this task. Because her symbol is not water or light, she struggles with this part, having to get down on her knees to make sure she does not fall over. Sweat drips down from her brow, her hands shake, and she is panting. She does not know how much longer she can continue. Her vision blurs for a few seconds, but clears quickly. The disk's symbols fly into the black box, and finally she sees a hologram of the dragon zord flying into the box. A huge grin is painted onto her pallid face.

She looks over at Antonio, who is still sound asleep and whispers to herself, "Well, looks like you've got your work cut out for you buddy." The hacker hobbles over to the sleeping figure and places his samurai morpher back into his hand, and quietly creeps out of the room, and heads to her own. As she slips on her pajamas and washes her face. She looks up into the mirror and sees the smile is still plastered on her face. Despite her aching bones and the lack of the ability to keep her eyes open, she is happy knowing that because of her, it will only be a day or two until they have their new weapon. _"Today, I made Cam proud."_

* * *

In the morning, Mia wakes up with a splitting headache and is sore from head to toe. She groans as she trudges out of bed and grabs a sweatshirt to slip on over her tank top she wore to sleep. As she puts it on, she hesitates, turns around, and looks at the old scar on her left shoulder blade. It was slightly faded and distorted through years of growth spurts and healing, but you could still clearly tell what it was. Burnt into her flesh was the symbol of silence. The reason she is unable to tell Jayden or the others the full truth about her or her past and how it is intertwined with so many other rangers, and allies. She shakes her head in disgust remembering how it got there. _"If only he could see me now. He'd regret what he had done tenfold!" _she seethes.

She slips on the black sweatshirt and walks out of her room, only to be greeted by a chorus of screams, laughs, and utter confusion. This just made her head pound even more. Mike and Kevin were battling about some trivial issue (Mike probably was the instigator), Antonio cheering himself on as he makes more progress on the black box, Jayden is slugging a punching bag, and inadvertently beating up Emily who is holding it up. Emily spots Mia, and drops the punching bag, dodges Jayden's fist, and runs up to her and grins, "Hey, sleepyhead! I was about to go wake you up! What took you so long?"

"Headache." Mia mutters.

"Oh, okay. Let's go to the kitchen, and I'll make us some tea, but first, you might want to go get changed. While the fluffy ninja turtles pajama pants look comfy, I don't think that they're proper samurai training attire." Emily giggles. Mia smiles and nods. As she walks out she silently curses herself for wearing the pj's that Cassie bought her. If Mentor saw, then she'd be dead.

She painfully slips on her uniform, triple checking that the scar isn't showing, and returns to the kitchen. She sits down at the counter and smiles as Emily slides over a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and tea.

"Mentor made breakfast. You don't know what it took to make sure Mike didn't steal your plate. When he couldn't get yours, he got Kevin's. That's why their fighting out there." Emily informs Mia as she slides onto the stool next to her. "Mentor is going out to get more pancake mix, while Kevin pummels Mike. He told me to make sure that you were up, and to train with Jayden for the time being." Mia nods as she stuffs her face. After the previous night, she really was hungry. Emily looks shifts in her chair, and glances back at Jayden. Mia took notice.

"What's wrong Em?" Mia asks.

"You haven't told them, have you?" Mia doesn't know what she's talking about at first, but then it hits her. She shakes her head. "Mia, you've got to tell them. You sure that you don't want me to do it for you.

"No, I've gotta be the one to tell them, but you know the rules. The moment the word 'military' leaves my lips they're gonna go bananas!" Mia replies. "Mike and Antonio probably will just shrug it off, but Jayden and Kevin? Not so much. Currently, I like my head where it is. ON MY SHOULDERS."

Emily laughs, remembering Jayden and the punching bag. "I don't know, maybe you'd look good with the whole headless horseman look." Emily teases.

"Really? Yeah, maybe I can see it. On Halloween!" The two girls burst out laughing. Mia stuffs the last bit of pancakes in her mouth, right as Mentor walks in.

"Good morning, girls. Nice to see the both of you finally up." he says as he looks over at Mia, "I hope that you both are well rested. Once you two are done, meet Jayden outside and start today's training. You two will be sparing, while Jayden will be working on symbols. Mike and Kevin will be doing some 'special' training due to their behavior this morning." The two girls lock eyes, nod their heads, and head outside.

Each grab a kendo stick and begin to spar. Jayden walks over to the easel and picks up a brush and a jar of paint. Mia's eyes glance his way. She curiously looks at the easel. The kanji she sees is 雷光 raikou (lightning). The page erupts with electric currents. Eventually it begins to char up, and Mia looks back to her opponent just in time to nearly dodge a swing at her shoulder, barely blocking it. She shakes her head trying to stay focused. Her vision blurs for a second as she ducks from another attack. She tries to stay on her toes, but the weight of her own body is taking its toll on her. _"I knew first hand that using too much symbol power drains you, but this is ridiculous!"_ Mia thinks to herself, _"Better not let it show, or else Mentor will know."_

The girls' kendo sticks clash for only a few more beat, when Mia lets her guard down slightly out of exhaustion, giving Emily an opening to whack her upside the head.

Mia rubs the back of her head with the palm of her hand. Emily just stands there trying not to laugh. "For Peat's sake Mia! Did you get any sleep last night? You know, if Mentor sees you you'll be dead."

"Yes, but obviously not enough."

"Well that's a given! Today you're slower than a sloth." Mia smirks at her friend's comment and whacks Emily in the shin with her kendo stick.

"Ow!" Emily howls.

"Emily did you get any sleep last night, or what?" Mia sarcastically imitates her friend. Emily takes a swing at Mia's head, but she blocks it with her kendo and the two girls go on sparing. Each rhythmic clash of the sword pounds on Mia's head. Each step they take is a key being pressed on Antonio's morpher, draining Mia's energy. Each second that passes is a small battle won in the internal war to stay awake while all her body wants to do is sleep.

Mentor walks outside with Mike and Kevin in tow. Mentor clears his throat and waits a beat to start talking, "As I have been informed that I have things that need to be attended to, Mike and Kevin will be doing all of your chores for a week instead of what I had previously planned. Emily and Mike will spar, and Jayden and Kevin will spar." he turns to the pink ranger, "Mia, it is later."

**A/N: I hope you liked it, and seriously write what you had for breakfast, or the grossest breakfast you've ever eaten in the comments. The most disgusting/funny/both meal will make it into one of my upcoming chapters! Can't wait to hear from you guys!**


	8. Later

**A/N: Just needed to get this up before I write the next one. PLEASE REVIEW and ENJOY!**

Mia trudges behind Mentor as he leads her into the living room. Anticipation builds as each step is taken. They walk past the room where Antonio is working on the black box. She hears him cheer himself on as he successfully gets another one of their discs to cooperate. Mentor glances over at the door and then back at Mia. He walks towards the door at the end of the hallway. He opens the it and walks in. Mia stops in her tracks. This is Mentor's bedroom. Nobody aside from Mentor himself has ever entered, not even Jayden or his father.

He turns around, "Are you coming?" Mia nods and nervously follows him into the room. The walls are a dark, velvet red with frames of old parchment adorning each, accept for one. This one is lined from floor to ceiling with simple, light wooded shelves. Each is filled with ancient scrolls. Next to the shelves is a small bamboo coffee table and two bamboo chairs with velvet cushions to match the walls. One is obviously more worn than the other. Mentor gestures for her to sit in the lesser worn chair and walks over to a teapot. He pours two cups and places them on the table. He then puts the teapot down behind the two. Mia's eyes wander across the room as she takes a sip. His bed is simple with black sheets and pillows to match. The frame is the same light wood as the one used on the shelves. On his bedside table she sees a picture of a young Jayden and Mentor at Rainbow's End. This made her smile. The thought that every once in a while Jayden actually had fun was very comforting for some odd reason. In front of the picture was a ceramic bowl containing two Chinese Baoding balls. They looked like the ones Jayden received for Christmas.

As Mentor sits the air becomes thick. Mia's hands begin to shake, so she places her cup back on the table. There is a deafening silence between the two. Mentor is the first to speak. "So, Antonio has been making quite some progress today," his calm tone terrifies her. "He said that 'it just clicked.' It makes you wonder how he did it, you know?" Mia nods her head, but can't make eye contact, and her hands shake even more. To stop them, she crosses her arms and holds them tightly against her chest. He knows. "You've been rather sluggish today. Did you get enough sleep?"

Mia finally looks up at him. "Rough night." she mutters.

"Ah," he says, raising an eyebrow, "well isn't that ironic? Last night I couldn't sleep either. I heard a noise, almost like a mouse creeping across the floor, so I went out to look. The only problem is, what I saw was much too tall to be a mouse. At first I thought it was you, but I told you specifically _NOT_ to mess with the black box. Therefore, there is no way it could have been you. I thought, maybe, you would have some ideas as to what I saw."

Mia feels her face go red. She opens her mouth to respond, but no words come out. She is not very used to being in trouble. Not saying that she hasn't done anything before that would grant punishment, she just has never been caught until today. Finally she is able to mutter a few words, "I only wanted to help, and it looks like I did. You know that Cam…"

"DON'T MENTION THAT FARCE!" Mentor screamed. "NEVER IN MY PRECENCE MENTION HIM. HE PARADED AROUND PRETENDING TO BE A SAMURAI. HE IS AN INSULT TO EVERYTHING WE STAND FOR. Mia feels like she should shrink back into her figurative shell, but she doesn't. She instead shoots the anger right back at him.

"DON'T INSULT MY COUSIN!" she screams. She takes a few breaths to calm herself down and then continues, "He is smart, focused, I bet he even trains harder than Jayden and Kevin combined…"

"Doubt it." Mentor interrupts.

"And his team defeated their enemy within a year." Mia sits back in her chair, satisfied. While her cousin has been holding that over her head in a secret email exchange, it is the truth. They got hit with a surprise attack and were more prepared than the samurai ever where.

"Well, it would have helped if your uncle hadn't started the attack in the first place." Mentor snidely remarks. Mia seethes. It is true that her uncle, Kiya, had become Lothor and attacked the Earth along with her cousins, Marah and Kapri. That was after his evil wife had died and his sister-in-law guilt tripped Lothor into letting them help. But Cam never knew him, and neither did Mia. "His judgment isn't very good either. Didn't he let your two alien cousins off the hook for attempting to destroy the Earth with no punishment? Instead he made them ninjas!"

"They were brainwashed by their parents and Mama D, their grandmother. It's not their fault, and they didn't get off that easily. They've been washing the dishes and sweeping the floors ever since in addition to their training. Now they're really nice and super funny if you give them the chance!" Now Mia is whining.

"Jayden's been doing that since he started walking, and _he_ didn't plot total destruction and domination for everything that is good in this world." Mentor replies. For some reason, this angers Mia even more, but she does her best to smother the feeling.

"Maybe when you only have to clean up after about two, possibly three, people it's not that bad. They have to clean up after two, possibly three, _hundred_ people. Now I am pretty sure you didn't invite me in here just to insult my family." Mia takes a sip of her tea once more and relaxes in her chair. She is not as nervous, but ten times more annoyed.

Mentor takes notice. He narrows his eyes and speaks carefully, "Ah, yes. You deliberately disobeyed my orders. Despite the fact that you helped, a part of our agreement is that you will not use any skills given to you by your ninja training, as it…"

"As it might interfere with my samurai training. You've told me a million times." Mia interrupts.

He sighs and continues, "Yet, it seems that you need to be reminded. You know the rules, and if you would like me to take the same action that Jayden's father did on you, then I will." He watches as she tenses up, and takes notice to the instant fear that flashes quickly into her eyes. "For now, you will have to do some extra training as well as your training with the others. Just to make sure that you get my message clear. And I don't' ever want you to mention _that_ side of your family in my presence ever again."

"You are such a hypocrite! You bend the rules for Antonio, but for me I get a symbol branded into my skin like a horse! I just don't get why I get scolded for doing what my dad's side of the family does. I was raised to be a ninja, not a samurai. James and Jackson were the samurai. They would have made great ones, and there was no need for me to learn symbol power up until…well…you know. No one expects to lose two brothers in such a short time." Mia whispers.

"Well, maybe if they'd followed the way of the samurai, not your father, and stayed away from the war between the countries, then you wouldn't be in this predicament, now would you? The samurai understood that there is a greater enemy than each other. You act as if your brothers did something brave, but in reality, they were complete idiots. They were a disgrace to the samurai tradition!" Mentor says curtly looking down while taking a sip of his own tea. When he looks back up, he sees something he didn't expect. Mia's arms are once again tightly wrapped around herself, her nose is red, and her eyes are filled to the brim with tears. She closes her eyes and turns her head away from him, just as a few tears sneak out. His heart pangs knowing that he has gone too far. In a much softer tone he goads, "Mia." He reaches out and puts his hand on her shoulder, but she pulls away.

"Thanks for the tea." she whimpers. Then Mia stands up, and walks away. Outside she hears the others sparing. The clashing of the kendo sticks and the grunts of her friends reminds her of her cousins. She thinks back to the days when Cam, Marah, and Kapri would spend time teaching her and Terry all they knew, despite the two siblings being on the same level as their female cousins. Cam would critique the four of them on their stances and swordsmanship. Cyber Cam would bring them lemonade when they needed a break, just like Mentor does now. They spent a lot of time laughing, and despite the age gap, Mia and Terry were never excluded. Marah and Kapri would Mia how to cook while they were doing their chores, Cam showed Terry how to play the guitar, and Mia and Terry taught them how to do simple, fun, things like throw a frisbee or skip a stone across a clear pond. The things that Mia and Terry taught their cousins were simple, but unbeknownst to them, meant the world to the others. Mia longs to go home, but knows in her heart that she won't be seeing her family for a while. _"I HATE samurai. They are hypocritical, rude, and an all-around pain in the rear! Mike could get away with ANYTHING in school. Jayden is Mr. Perfect. How anyone even think that he had a flaw? Kevin might as well be Mentor Jr. But the best is when Antonio does something unorthodox it is cool, interesting, a nice addition, but when I do something different it is an embarrassment to the freakin' samurai tradition! Man, I can't wait to go home!"_ Mia seethes. She walks over to the punching bag in the inside training area, and in a small act of defiance, practices only the moves she learned from her cousins until the others finished sparing.


	9. I Should Have

**A/N: Hey, I know it's been a really long time, but I've had a bit of family drama going on. I did, however, make quite a bit of changes to the story. You might need to go back and re-read a couple of things. Sorry. But to save you time, if you read the Prologue you are fine, if not, you should turn to the first chapter. Some things are small, other things are pretty major. Once again, sorry. The story is a lot better if I do say so myself. Hope you enjoy and review!**

The rhythmic pounding of Mia's fists on the punching bag is calming to her. The steady beat is all she can hear through her angry blows. Sweat drips down her forehead, and tears down her cheek. Every second she wishes she were somewhere else (away from the monsters and the pain), missing her home and family (dysfunctional, but caring all the same), where truth reigns free (with not secrets to be kept).

_Cam trudges down the walkway from the lake to the main building of the Wind Ninja Academy. Normally on this walk, he never even brakes a sweat, but today, he has a parasite hanging off his back. "Father warned me not to work you too hard, but seriously?" Cam said out loud to himself as he turned his head to look at his sleeping cousin, "You are the only kid I've ever seen fall asleep LITERALLY while standing up!"_

"_Hey, Cam!" Shane, Cam's friend and co-instructor, yelled, "Wait…up!" Cam turns around to look back at Shane, who has his other kid cousin on his back._

_He laughs, "Come on! You can't carry one little kid? I thought that you were the all mighty red ranger? You don't even have the older kid. I'm the one who picked up Mia!"_

"_Yeah, but Terry is bigger. Mia has no meat on her bones!" Shane retorts._

_Cam chuckles, "I know, right!"_

"_She is really fast, but she can't hurt a fly even if she tried."_

"_We'll have to change that. She won't admit it, but I know for a fact that there is something going on in school. I keep finding these random bruises all over her arms," Cam sighs, "She keeps on telling me that 'it's nothing' or 'I was practicing,' but I don't think that she is telling me what really is going on. I had to deal with bullies when I was her age, and eventually I needed to drop out of mainstream school and dad home schooled me until I went to college."_

"_Really? I've never had to deal with anything like that. All I have is a controlling older brother." Shane and Cam laugh as they trudge along. "Who in their right mind would mess with a little kid who just lost two brothers? I can't even imagine what is going through that kid's mind."_

"_I don't know, but starting tomorrow, I want your focus with her to go to strength and self-defense. She has plenty of agility."_

"_Ok. Whoever this kid is, is going to have quite a shock when they face her. I bet it'll only take a week or two to get her up to par. She is more dedicated and hardworking than anyone else here." Shane nudges Cam, "Hey, look." Cam turns his head only to find his little cousin grinning from ear to ear with her eyes tightly shut. Cam rolls his eyes as they continue to walk towards the main building of the academy._

"_I should have shown him what I was capable of." _Mia mumbles under her breath as she gives the bag another whack._ "__I should have landed my fist right in the middle of his obnoxious smirk!"_ Three more punches to the bag. _"I should have stood up for myself."_ One more kick. _"I should have never let that little dweeb get to me!"_ Four more quick jabs as her mind begins to wander. _ "I should have gone to see them off."_ Two quick kicks. _ "I should have forgiven them_ sooner." One more punch._ "Now it's too late. It's too_ late!" One roundhouse kick._ "I should have never come_ here." Two more punches._ "I should have ignored the arrow." _ One more kick._ "The samurai are not my friends. They hate my family for everything they do." _ Another roundhouse kick. "They_ are so narrow." _ One punch._ "They should see things_ differently." One kick._ "They should be less hypocritical." _ One jab. "Why_ is Antonio any different from_ me?" Two jabs._ "They should, no Ji should open his stupid eyes for once and see that there is nothing bad about me or my family!" _She punches the bag with all her might, but when it does not come back she looks up. Jayden is standing there holding the bag with a slightly intrigued look on his face. _"How long has he been standing there?"_ she thinks to herself.

"That's an interesting style. I've never seen you use any of those moves before." Jayden calmly says bringing the bag back down to its hanging position. "Still, I'm pretty sure that no matter what style you use, you're supposed to tape your knuckles before you hit the punching bag."

Mia looks down at her bare hands, and sees that her knuckles are raw and bleeding from the punching bag. "Oh, I guess I forgot." she mumbles.

Jayden chuckles at this and gently guides her by her elbow towards the restroom. He starts running the water until it gets warm, and instructs her to place her hands beneath it as he fumbles around in the medicine cabinet until he finds rubbing alcohol, gauze, and medical tape. "Be ready, this is going to sting a little," Jayden warns. Mia nods her head as a reply. She bites her lip to stop herself from squealing out in pain when he pours the rubbing alcohol over her wounds. Jayden then wraps her knuckles with gauze and then medical tape.

"Thanks," Mia sheepishly says.

"Anytime," Jayden replies. "Hey, what was that about with Mentor? I didn't get what he meant by the 'It's later' thing."

"Oh…uh…I asked him to help me with a symbol that I was struggling with a few days ago, but he was busy, so he told me he would help me later, and today was later. We worked on it for a while, but there is only so long you can sit at a canvas getting blown across the room with a giant tornado, without getting a little…frustrated." Mia shrugs.

"Let me guess, he told you to take a break and instead you hit the punching bag, while he goes out to practice with the rest of us?" Mia nods. "You know you need to rest, especially after using that much symbol power," Jayden scolds.

"Give me a break, I got bored!" she retorts.

"Ok, but no more punching bag for you!"

"Fine," Mia says as she rolls her eyes and turns to walk away.

Jayden grabs her shoulder and spins her around. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going to rest." He couldn't help but laugh as he watches her walk off to her room._ "Red ranger, fooled. I hope Mentor goes along with my story." _Mia flops down onto her bed and grabs a nearby book off her bedside table. It has a yellow sticky note on the top with words written in bubbly handwriting. _"Emily,"_ Mia thinks to herself,_ "I wonder why she left this here."_ Mia lifts the sticky note and looks at the title, _The Big Book of Grim: Complete Collection. "Never mind."_

Mia puts the note back down and reads it:

_Mia,_

_Serena used to read this to me when I was little. Thought you might like it. Just leave it on my bed when you are done._

_Your pal,_

_Em_

_P.S. Cinderella is page 176_

She smiles and opens the book and starts flipping through the pages, _"The samurai are my friends, Ji is the one who needs to update his views"_, but before she gets to 176, she is already fast asleep.


	10. The Revealer

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I have an alibi, and it is air tight. I had to move over the summer. I lived out of boxes, in my cousins' basement. I love them and am very grateful, but if I have to watch one more re-run of American Ninja Warrior my head will explode! My charger ended up at the bottom of one of my many boxes, thus my updating was put on a hold. :(**

**Ok, so I know this one isn't that long, but I will be more frequent. Sawy!**

"Mia, wake up!" Emily screams as she shakes her friend awake. Mia groans and just barely opens her eyes. "The gap sensor is going off! We have to go!" Once Mia hears this she springs out of bed and sprints out of the room with Emily in tow.

The two girls catch up to the guys who are heading towards the downtown area. No one is running away or screaming, in fact, no one is there period. The monster is no shorter than six feet tall with a muscular, crimson body, with the skeletal system on top of his course skin. His weapon is a black and gold reaper. Alone he calmly stands. From the looks of things there is no new damage, no one there to scream or run away, nothing out of place aside from the vacancy of the area and the monster himself.

"Rangers," his calm voice rings out, "I am not here to destroy your world like most monsters. Master Xandred called me here not to ruin, but to reveal.

"What are you talking about monster?" Kevin yells.

He smirks and continues, "There are two who are not as they seem. The two are opposites in most ways, but their true colors are the same. One dark and the other light. One chaos and the other calm. One ridged the other relaxed. Yet both are broken in ways no one will ever know. No one will ever undue what has been done, for that is an impossible act. They are holding secrets that could forever change your fates. The secret is held deep within their minds where no one can reach, deep within their souls so no one may ever discover the truth. Not even Xandred has knowledge of these secrets. Only I hold the key to the box of your minds, and only I may choose when to reveal. For I know that neither will reveal on their own. I will give you until this time next week, or else I will reveal." With that last word, the nighlock disappears into the gap.

Only two truly know what the monster was talking about, and both knew that he was right. They are not going to tell the others. The others look around confused. Mike is the first one to speak.

"What just happened?" he exclaimed, "Where'd he go?"

"I don't have a good feeling about this." Emily chimes in.

"Well, obviously he's not here. We should probably go back to the house, so we can tell Mentor. Who knows! Maybe he can make some sense of this." Jayden replies. They all agree and begin to walk back. Mike and Emily chatter amongst each other as they walk along. Kevin, Jayden, and Antonio talk amongst themselves. Mia lags behind. She knows that if she tells the others, it will not end well, but if the monster tells the others, it will be equally as bad. Either way they can not find out.

* * *

"So after the monster said all of this, he just disappeared?" Ji asks quizzically.

Mike shrugs and responds,"Yeah, he just gave his monologue and jumped through a gap."

"It was the strangest thing," Kevin comments, "nothing was out of place, no moogers, no damage, no people running. Everything was as it should be." He turns to Ji and pleads, "Do you know anything about the secrets? Do you really think that this nighlock could've been telling the truth?"

"Yes," Ji sighs, "there are two rangers that I know of who are keeping secrets from you. I must warn you, however, they are being kept for your safety and for the best interest of the team. Neither of them like having to do it and I have watched it take its toll on each of them. They have kept their secrets so well up until now, and I don't think that one more week will kill them." Kevin purses his lips and shakes his head. He never would dream of contradicting Ji, but inside fury rages. Ji sees this and calmly asks, "Kevin, we all can tell something is on your mind. Why not you just say it?"

"How can we be expected to trust someone who isn't who they say they are?" he snaps, "How one earth, can we be in battle and have full confidence that they won't turn right around and stab us in the back?" He storms off. Mia feels the guilt mounting up on top of her, suffocating her, crushing her.

Mike and Antonio run after Kevin, trying to reason with him as they go. Jayden and Mia lock eyes just for a moment. It only lasted a few seconds, but it is enough to allow Emily's imagination to wander...


	11. Racoon Eyes

**A/N: Hey, I need your help. My dear friend, Mr. Review Box, is feeling extremely lonely. He really needs some company because no one has typed in him for a really long time. Please help my poor friend. He just wants someone to take a few seconds out of their day to type up a few minuscule words. Its not much, but it would mean a lot. On a happier not, I have a new chapter up! Enjoy!**

Mia flops down on her bed feeling nothing but defeat. Her heart aches and the weight of guilt might crush her whole being. _"__If they find out, who know what__'__ll happen? Kevin will never forgive me, Emily will be mad, and what if the monster tells about Mike! He wouldn__'__t go back to, no, he__'__s better than that now.__"_ Mia thinks to herself. There is a soft nock on the door. Emily pokes her head through the door.

She quietly asks, "Hey, Mia, can I come in?" Mia nods her head and Emily sits down next to Mia. Emily sighs, "I know that you still haven't told the others about your brothers, and something tells me that that is not all that I don't know." Mia stays quiet and averts her gaze. "Mia, it might help your case if I knew. At least I could say that you were going to tell them, but Ji told said that you'd get in trouble after you told me. I think that they might be able to reason with that."

Mia sits up and stares down at her hands in her lap. "Think of all the rules that you've been taught as a kid. Try to remember all of the wrong things that you could have done. Every possible way to break the rules. In samurai terms, my family has done just that." She grabs the picture of her family on Christmas off the bedside table and admits, "My father and brothers went into the military. My dad is currently an admiral and my brothers were pilots, but…I'll tell you about that later. My father's older brother and his son, my cousin Cam, run the Wind Ninja Academy." Emily's mouth drops, but before she can say anything, Mia interrupts, "It gets better. Since one of my brothers was supposed to be the pink ranger, my mom trained them in the art of the samurai and my dad trained me and Terry in the art of ninjustu." Emily opens her mouth again, but Mia continues, "Cam was the "fake samurai ranger" that Ji and Mike constantly complain about. My uncle Kiya, formerly known a Lothor, tried to take over the world with the help of my other cousins Marah and Kapri. Lothor ended up being shoved down into a giant crack in the ground, but Marah and Kapri, whose mother is the alien sister of Lothor's late wife might I add, turned good and actually taught me how to cook. Jamie was engaged to a girl named Cassie Chan who was the Pink Turbo Ranger and the Pink Space Ranger. He met her while in flight school. She went into the military after a bad mission with the Galaxy Rangers. She was all depressed about the death of Kendrix, the Pink Galaxy ranger, who ended up undying somehow. My brother made her happy and undepressed. She introduced me to the ninja turtles, who to my shock, are real. The turtles, along with Slpinter, their rat sensei, helped improve my ninjustu skills and taught me how to skateboard. Oh, and just to wrap it all up in a pretty bow, Mike was my bully in the elementary school, and nearly killed me when he locked me in my locker and a fire broke out in the school. Yup, that's my normal life!"

She looks up expectantly at her friend who is just sitting there in shock. Suddenly realizing what she had just blurted out, Mia scoots a little closer to the end of the bed. Emily begins to cackle. Mia, relieved that her friend is not freaking out laughs too.

"Wow, your family didn't just brake the Samurai Code, they took it, beat it up, shoved it in the blender, and dropped an atomic bomb on top of it!" Emily exclaims.

"Yup!"

As the two girls laughed, Mia fells the weight on her shoulders get a little bit lighter. By the time they stop, both have tears streaming down their faces. Mia gets an idea. "Hey, Em!"

"Yeah?"

"I want to show you something," then Mia looks at her friend, and chucked, "but you might want to fix your make up first."

Emily giggles, "Right back at 'ya!"

The two girls look into Mia's mirror on her desk and see their raccoon eyes. This sight causes them to laugh even more. Emily leaves to go fix her make up and Mia begins to do the same. She is glad that finally someone understands.

**A/N: Please don't forget about Mr. Review Box!**


	12. Always Room For Pizza

**A/N: Sooooooo, I promised Jia and I will give you just that****…****next chapter. I needed to get this one out first. It will make total sense(ish)! To make up for it, I gave you a longer than normal chapter!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT or Power Rangers. I****'****m just borrowing them for a little while****…**

* * *

Mia sits crisscross applesauce excitedly outside Emily's room. She wears a pink sweatshirt, black, leather pants, and training shoes. She tries to conceal the red strips on the insides of her pant legs with her arms to no avail, and she honestly does not care. All that she can think about is what she is going to show her friend. Emily finally pokes her head out of the door. At once Mia pops up and excitedly asks, "You ready?" Emily nods her head and the two girls begin to slink around the hallways out of sight of any other rangers or Ji. Mia leads them to the back entrance and they creep outside unnoticed and unheard.

To get to the back gate they have to slink past Ji's garage. The old man stays there late in the night working on his bike. As they tip-toe across the dirt path Emily steps on a branch. The two girls look up in panic. Luckily, Ji does not seem to notice. They speed up and eventually arrive at the back gate. It is just as large as the front gate, and is basically an exact replica of the one in the front.

The pink ranger gives her friend a wink and pulls off the sweatshirt. Underneath is a long-sleeved, black leather shirt with pink streaks and metals emblem on the right side where the Shiba symbol is on their training uniforms. Emily gets a confused look on her face, and in reply Mia answers, "Its what I wore when I spent my summers at the academy. My natural element for symbol power is sky, so while I was there I was air. It was a very easy translation actually. I'd even go as far as to say that it was a breeze."

Emily groans, "Ha, ha, ha. Very punny of you, Mia. How long have you been waiting to use that one?"

"Oh, you can't even imagine!" Mia replies with a mischievous grin. She looks around to make sure no one sees them, and with a glint in her eye she whispers in a tone barely audible, but just enough to emphasize what is about to happen, "Are you ready to get to the fun part?" Emily excitedly nods. "Then, let's go!"

With that Mia jumps into the air and runs as if she were climbing up a stair case, except there is nothing under her feet, but air. Once high enough, she steps over the fence and turns around to give her bewildered friend a smile. She nods towards the gate and with the flick of her wrist, the massive wooden entrance creeks open just enough for Emily to slip through. With another gesture the gates shut. Mia hops down to the ground landing as gracefully as a lioness springing down from her savannah rock in order to chase her prey. She looks over at her friend whose mouth is gapping open.

"H…h…how?" Emily stutters.

Mia grins at her friend and says, "I've not even gotten warmed up!" She looks around for a moment, trying to decide something. "Well, I'll have to show you that other thing later, because if we are going to get to our final destination with both of your arms attached, we should just use symbol power to do this one."

"Wait, what?" screams Emily. Mia completely ignores that comment and draws a symbol into the air and pink smoke fills their vision. Once the smoke starts to clear a rancid smell fills their noses. As they look around it becomes apparent that they are in a concrete tunnel. above them they can hear cars speeding past, horns blaring, people bustling around. A look of realization crosses Emily's face as Mia leans against the side of the tunnel with her arms crossed and a smirk. Emily looks Mia straight in the eyes and stammers, "Don't tell me. D…d…d…don't tell me."

"I figured, so long as I was breaking every other rule that Mentor had forced upon me, might as well have a little fun with it!" Mia remarks. "I figured that since my Dad's side of the family isn't too keen on samurai, it might be a little safer to bring you here, where they would be a little more," she pauses while looking for the right word, "understanding."

Emily screams, "MIA! We are in the sewers in New York, while everyone else thinks that we are fast asleep! What if a Nighlock attacks and we are not there? What do you think would happen then? They are already on edge about that one monster! Two rangers missing while there is an attack! What do you think will be the first thing in their minds? Also, why am I the voice of reason here? That is your job!"

Mia chuckles as she holds up a little wooden box shaped like the Shiba symbol, "I have this little thing. It alerts me when and where there is a Nighlock attack. Jayden and Ji have one as well. They are easily broken, which is why there are only three. Ji gave me this one because he didn't understand how the whole ninja thing works. He said that, 'If you feel the urge to use your ninja powers just tell me and I'll excuse you from training.' Just to be clear, I am not forced to use my skills by some calling like Dekker to Urumasa. I simply train to maintain and advance my ability. I've only used it a couple of times, when I couldn't sneak off on my own without being noticed. This night was one of them."

"Ok, so you have an alibi. Nice Ji impression by the way. Do you have one for me?" Emily asks, slowly calming down.

"You are asleep in your room with your door locked." Mia shrugs. Just as Emily opens her mouth to retort, a VW van pulls up in front of them. Mia walks away from the wall and towards it. The door slides open and four creatures storm out.

"MIA!" they scream in unison. The color drains from Emily's face as Mia is engulfed in hugs by a group of giant turtles carrying weapons and wearing masks. Mia turns to her friend and grabs her hand.

"Em, these are the turtles, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. You can call them Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey." Emily is able to produce a small wave and a half smile. Mia notices this and explains, "I think that she is still comprehending what is going on."

Leo laughs and says, "That's pretty understandable. I would probably freak out if I were in her situation!"

"This is nothing a little pizza can't fix!" Mikey exclaims.

Mia retorts, "We already ate."

Mikey puts his hands on Mia's shoulders and in a dead serious tone he says, "Mia, there is always room for pizza." With that the two girls are dragged into the van and brought back to the turtle's home. It looks like an average living room, just with concrete walls. There is random stuff strewn about, unmistakably the turtle's things, and Mia and Emily have to tiptoe around it. The turtles lead them into another room that resembles the samurai's training yard. When they get to the dojo, a giant rat in a kimono greets them. Emily has to bite her tongue in order not to scream. Mia smiles and greats him with a hug.

"Em, this is Splinter, their dad," Mia says as she looks over at her friend. She notices a slightly green tint to the yellow ranger's face. None the less, Emily puts on a fake smile and shakes the hand of the rat.

Splinter also notices Emily's lukewarm greeting and chuckles, "I understand that this might be a bit overwhelming for you Emily. It is not everyday you meet a rat of my size." At this she blushes. "If it is any consolation, I do not bite." Emily laughs at his joke and starts to relax. She turns around and finds Mia on the other side of the room, climbing over Leo's shell in order to get a better look at something. Her friend is a lot shorter than the turtles and it is quite a funny sight.

Emily exclaims, "What is she doing?"

"They must be playing one of their video games. When she was younger, she would crawl through their legs whenever they were blocking her sight. Now, I see, she has found other ways." Mia finally hoists herself up onto the top of his shell and is just barely able to keep her balance. Leo's does not even notice. Splinter gives Emily a wink and mouths, "Watch this," then he turns to the turtles and clears his through, "Ahem!" At the sound of Splinter's voice, all of the turtles turn on a dime, causing Mia to fall off. She crashes into a a pile of junk in a clumsy heap. Emily and Splinter are belly laughing along with the turtles. Mia just glares up at them. Donnie offers her a hand, and she begrudgingly accepts it, standing up and brushing herself off.

"Not funny," Mia mumbles.

"I think we all can agree that was hilarious. Now, I for one am hungry and the pizza delivery boy should be here soon. Donatello and Leonardo, go get the pizza. Michelangelo and Raphael, plates."

"Aw, Splinter! Why do they get to get the pizza?" Mikey whines.

Splinter smirks, "Because they are the least likely to eat it." Mikey and Raph mumble to themselves as they go get the plates. Donnie and Leo walk off to go meet the pizza boy. He walks over to Mia who is leaning up against the wall rubbing her head. "I see your time as a samurai has made you lax in your training. Your balance was awful." Mia does not even bother to respond, she just looks up at him and glares. "It was a joke!" Splinter adds.

"Yeah, well everything you say is in a proper tone. I can never tell with you!" Mia retorts.

"Well, that may be, but I had to get a little ribbing in. My favorite student, now a samurai! Who would've thought?" She smiles at this.

"So I am your favorite?" Mia says with a glint in her eye.

"You induced the least amount of headaches, so I guess that would make you qualified," Splinter sighs. Then he adds, "Don't tell the boys."

"I'll try not to!" Just as she says this, the beautiful aroma of pizza fills the air.

"It's pizza time!" Leo announces as Donnie walks in proudly with pizza in hand. Everybody gathers around the table and grabs a slice. As they eat, they joke, tell stories of the past, and have a battle on which team fought harder beasts. Mia looks over at her friend who is smiling as she gorges herself with a second dinner, grinning from ear to ear with chipmunk cheeks filled with food. After dinner, the two rangers know that they have to go back to the Shiba house, but promise to return as soon as possible. As they trudge along the sewer, Emily bombards Mia with questions about every topic imaginable.

"Were they teenagers when they met Cassie?"

"Yes."

"How are they still teenagers now?"

"Mutant years, I guess."

"How long did you train under Splinter?"

"Off and on for about eight years."

"Do ninjas have different taste buds than the rest of the world?"

"Not that I know of. Where did you get that idea?"

"Uh…I don't know, just curious." Mia raises an eyebrow at Emily's response, but dismisses it when she notices that they had reached their destination.

"Here we are!" she exclaims.

"I get that the guys had to train and couldn't give us a ride, but why did we have to hike all the way over here to do the symbol?" Emily asks.

Mia shrugs and says, "My element is sky and it is hard to perform symbol power in the sewer underground. This symbol could go wrong in so many ways. In the depths of the sewers, there was too much room for err, under the grate, where I can at least see the sky, we have less of a chance of something going wrong."

"Makes sense." Emily replies. As the smoke fills the air and sewer turns to wood the two girls suddenly realize how late it truly is. They meander along the path back to the Shiba house. Once inside, they drift off to their separate rooms, and go to sleep.


	13. Red Innocence

**I want to thank GoseiShinkenPink for reviewing. It really means a lot to me. I really hoped that this chapter will make a lot of people happy! Enjoy!**

Mia wakes with a start to a giant crash. Her eyes snap open and she sits up with a jolt. She looks over at her clock and sees 10:30. In a rush she puts on her uniform and pulls her hair back into a ponytail. She flings open the door and sprints outside to the training yard where she sees Mike and Kevin sparring. She looks over and sees the stand that held the bokken, smashed. One more look into their eyes show that they are not just sparring. Mia picks up two bokken, one in each hand, and blocks both Kevin and Mike's attacks.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" she screams.

"He is the liar!" Kevin screams.

"No way, man!" Mike retorts, "I am an open book! You're the one who is lying!" Kevin roughly shoves Mia aside and returns to his duel with Mike. Infuriated, Mia steps in again, dodging several attacks, forces them both to take a step back.

"Knock it off you two! Don't you think this is what the night lock wanted? How do we even know he was telling the truth?" Mia asks, "Maybe he's the liar. If this is his plan, then you are walking yourselves right into his trap!"

Kevin shakes his head, "No, he was telling the truth. I could tell."

"At least you are right about that," Mike agrees. They both push Mia away this time, knocking her to the ground. Mike turns and looks at her more closely. Through squinted eyes he asks, "Was it you?"

"What?"

"Was it you who lied to us?" Mike demands. Before Mia can utter a word he pulls her to her feet.

Kevin pulls her ear close to his face and whispers through gritted teeth, "Answer him, Mia."

Shocked, Mia stutters, "I…I…I have never lied to either you guys." Kevin sighs and Mike releases her. She sinks down to the ground shaking. The whole time she sees Mike shoving her up against the locker back at grade school.

"She is right," Kevin murmurs, "It probably is just the nighlock messing with us."

"Yeah, that was stupid," Mike agrees. They look down at their trembling friend and get down on their knees.

Kevin puts his arm around Mia's shoulder and regretfully says, "I am so sorry, Mia. I am just scared."

"Yeah, me too," Mike adds, "We don't want to end up fighting for the wrong side, or find out that one of our closest friends is really plotting against us. We are too close, you know?" Mia numbly shakes her head. Mike says, "Lets get something to eat." Kevin and Mia share a smile at their friend's never ending pit he calls a stomach. The guys gently help her up and walk with her inside. Mia grabs a bowl of cereal, while Mike loots the leftover pizza from several nights ago, and Kevin prepares his salad.

"Cereal?" Kevin asks.

"For the record, I haven't eaten yet," she defends, "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"Ji told us that you were up all night sick and not to mess with you," Mike answers. Mia remembers her little trip with Emily the night before. Illness must have been Ji's coverup with the rest of the rangers.

Not wanting to contradict her alibi she says, "Yeah, I had a stomach bug. I feel a lot better now, but I probably was up past one, you know." The guys nod sympathetically. While they are munching on their meal, a curious red ranger walks in.

"Hey, Mia. Could I talk to you for a little bit?" he asks. Mia nods and walks out of the kitchen, cereal in hand. He leads her to his bedroom and he closes the door quietly. He sits down on the trunk in front of his bed and gestures for Mia to do the same on his desk chair. She sits and places her cereal bowl on his desk. He sits there for a minute and looks deeply into her eyes and smiles without saying a word.

Uncomfortable with the silence, Mia asks, "So, what did you need to talk about?"

He smiles and says, "You're amazing. You know that right? Emily, Ji, and I tried to get them to stop fighting for about thirty minutes, and then gave up. You just walk right out there and lay down the law. They listened to you."

Mia chuckles, "Granted that is after getting shoved down onto the ground."

"I ended up on my butt ten times, and they still didn't listen to me," Jayden replies. He smiles and holds both of her hands in his. He rubs small circles on top of hers with his thumbs. She does not know how to respond, so she just sits there smiling back at him. "I don't know how you do it, Mia, but you most definitely have a magic touch. I am so glad to have you on the team. I sure hope you know that." When he says this, Mia blushes and her grin widens.

"I'm not that great," she modestly replies.

"Well, I think you are," he says. He stands up and she follows suit. Still holding hands and still gazing deeply into each other's eyes, they stand there until Jayden slides his hands up her arms until they get to her shoulders. He slowly runs his hands down her back until they reach just above her waist and pulls her in close. Their heads nearly touch as Mia looks up at her leader. He awkwardly shifts his head a bit and then pulls her in closer for a hug. She rolls her eyes at the red ranger's innocence and rests her cheek on his neck. As she grips his shoulders, he massages her back with one hand and with the other he keeps her close. Mia relaxes and closes her eyes. They rock back and forth as if listening to some music that no one else can. Jayden turns her around so that her back is facing him and sits down in the desk chair. He sits her down on his lap and wraps his around her waist. Eyes still shut, she leans back so that her head is next to his.

Mia murmurs, "Weren't we supposed to be talking about something?"

He turns his head so that his lips are barely touching her ear and whispers, "We already did." Jayden begins to hum an off key melody as Mia begins to drift off to sleep in his arms.

**A/N: Jia lovers, are you satisfied with the beginning of my little romance?**** I need to thank 2OwlsATweeting for aiding me with the one aspect of the story that I have always struggled with: Romance. Her direct ideas will be shown next chapter, but the lead up was in this one. I need you to tell me if this is on a good path or not. I am truly clueless about this stuff, so I need you to tell me if you like it or not. I can't write romance in this story without that crucial info. I really hope you liked it and please review!**


	14. Black and White

Jayden smiles as he looks at the pink ranger sitting quietly in his lap. Her head rests beneath his chin as she sleeps. Suddenly, the the Gap Sensor sounds. Mia's eyes snap open and both Jayden simultaneously hop out of the chair. They sprint out the door and head towards the others who are already leaving. "Where are we going?" Jayden yells.

"To Greyhound Park!" Kevin screams back. Mia falters in her step as she realizes what is to come. They morph up while on the run just as they reach their destination point. Mia's fears come true as she sees the muscular figure standing tall in front of the Greyhound Park sign. She feels the color drain from her face as it turns to face them.

"Ah, Rangers, I see. You are finally here for me. To reveal unto you, the full truth through and through," he proclaims in his poetic way. He wields his reaper and a crimson electrical field emits from it. It engulfs Mia and as the monster raises up his weapon, she is raised up off the ground as well. A pulse goes through the wave and Mia dimorphs.

Jayden screams, "MIA!"

"Why do you cry? Why do you weep? For besides me there is one more enemy to the samurai. I don't know if you knew, but you had a ninja standing beside you!" The moment he says this all of the rangers, except for Emily, do a double take. The nighlock grins and continues with another pulse, "That is not all. There is much to disclose, before the time comes that I let her fall. She is a cousin to the a certain young man. He has disgraced the green samurai clan. He claimed to be a samurai, when all knew that was a lie."

"That was your cousin? He stole an ancient family artifact, then distorted it!" Mike seethes. They lock eyes for a moment just before another pulse finally knocks her unconscious.

Jayden marches over to his teammate and screams, "Hey, why are we standing around here listening to this nighlock? Mia is in trouble!"

"We are listening because he has not told a lie yet," Emily mumbles.

"What?" Jayden cries in disbelief.

The monster smirks and continues, "That is not the end, for it is merely the beginning. She was never meant to be, my distraught friends. Both her brothers perished in a distant war. One leaving behind a fiancé who loves no more." With that he slams her lifeless body to the ground. He continues, "There is more to tell, but we all know well, that my time here is short. Who's next in line? Is it you sport." He points his reaper to where both Mike and Jayden are standing, but just before he can fire off a shot, his flesh turns grey and begins to crack. "I now have to go, but you all know, I will be back!" he cries as he slips through a gap.

Mike pushes past the others, grabs Mia by the arm and yells, "Take this with you!" With that he throws her to the ground.

Horrified, Emily yells, "MIKE!" Jayden walks over to Mia's body and with a shaking hand, puts two fingers underneath her jaw.

He looks over to Emily and says, "She still has a pulse. It is weak, but it is there." Then he turns to Mike and Kevin and commands, "She will be given a chance to explain herself. That is only fair. Whatever the outcome, it will be up to Ji and I to determine what happens next. I don't care about personal scores, so either keep yourselves in check, or I will do that for you." He then gently bends down and picks her up. Then Kevin writes the symbol for smoke in the air. Once inside the Shiba house, Mike and Kevin storm off.

Ji comes in and worriedly asks, "What happened?"

"Please tell me she isn't related to the ninja samurai, and we will all be fine," Jayden pleads. Ji can do nothing but shake his head. Jayden looks painfully down at the girl in his arms. A tear escapes from his eye as he sets her down on the ground and walks away. Ji bends down and picks up the young samurai. Emily walks beside Ji as he takes Mia to her room. When they reach her room, they find ninja spray painted in green kanji across the door. Emily painfully sighs and opens the door for Ji. He walks in and as Emily pulls back the covers, he sets her down.

"I hope the others do not let their emotions get the best of them," Ji says to Emily, "This whole thing is not quite as black and white as they think it is."

* * *

Mia feels her battered body being dragged from her bed. She is too tired to open her eyes. She is forced down into a metal chair and her wrists are clamped to the arms of the chair by cuffs that are fused to the metal. Her ankles are also bound to the legs of the chair in a similar fashion. Mia lets her head drop due to exhaustion, and she almost falls back asleep until a jet stream of water is shot at her. She just barely lifts her head and barely opens her eyes. The room is dark and unfamiliar. The walls and ceiling are made of stone, and the floor is wooden. The air is thin and cold. The only source of light is the lantern that Jayden holds in his hands. Standing next to him are Mike, Kevin, and Antonio. Emily and Ji are noticeably absent. She sees that she is still wearing her training uniform pants, but she is only wearing the black cami she wears under her uniform shirt. Her shoes and socks are gone and her hair is no longer in a ponytail.

Jayden steps forward and booms, "Melina Watanabe, you have been brought here to do a little explaining. It has been found that you have committed treason against your clan. Allegedly, you practiced the art of ninjutsu, which is against the very morals of the Shiba Clan. Did you or did you not?"

Mia answers, "I did." Kevin draws the symbol for water and another stream blasts her in the chest, nearly nocking the chair over.

Jayden continues, "Is your father Admiral Kai Watanabe?"

Mia answers, "Yes." Another stream of water hits her. By now, she is visibly shaking.

Jayden notices this and smirks, "Are your brothers James Watanabe and Jackson Watanabe, and were you aware of their stations in the military?" Mia just weakly nods and braces herself as another stream of water slams into her.

Mike steps forward, "Were you aware of your cousin's claims of being a samurai, or his theft of an ancient artifact from my family?"

Through gritted teeth she spits, "He didn't steal it."

Mike comes close to her face and asks,"What did you just say?"

"He didn't steal it!" she screams. Mike steps aside as another stream of water hits her, this time in the face. She coughs up the water, barely able to breathe. Then he slams the chair down on the ground. Mia cries out as her head smacks against the hard floor. He goes in for another attack, but Antonio stops him.

"I know you are mad, amigo, but we need her alive," he reasons.

"Lets give her some time to think before we continue," Jayden pipes in. "Maybe then, she'll tell us the truth about how he did it."

Kevin, who has not spoken the entire time, warns, "Don't think of pulling anything. This room is air tight. We control the amount of air you get and you do not want to waste it. You can't see the sky or any element that might help you, just stone. You are trapped."

Mike adds, "I hope you like your new home, because you are going to be here for a long, long time." With this, all of the guys walk past her. She hears a door opening and closing. Once the door is shut, the room becomes pitch black. The only sound that can be heard is her struggle for air.

* * *

**A/N: Hey! What do you think? I hope you liked it, so please review! See you next chapter!**


	15. Regret

**A/N: Ok, so I was so excited to see all of the reviews from the last chapter! I feel like some actions need explaining, so I will do that through the next few chapters. Enjoy!**

* * *

_Before the Interogation_

* * *

Daisuke meets the guys at the entrance of the gate. Jayden hands Mia's unconscious form off to several servants who take her down to her cell. They bow and Daisuke says, "The Tengen Gate is fully prepared to hold an enemy like this. While it has been quite some time since we have done so, we will fulfill our duty to the best of our abilities. We had our cells fortified with new technology when it was not in use. The particular cell holding our prisoner will stay in has been fortified with some new technology. We control the airflow, so that our prisoner will not be able to use that to her advantage."

"What do you mean by that?" Kevin asks.

"There is only enough oxygen in the room for her to survive," Daisuke answers, "If the prisoner attempts to use symbol power or any of her ninja abilities, she will pass out."

"Isn't that a bit much?" Antonio asks concerned.

Daisuke is about to respond, but Jayden answers for him, "You don't know how dangerous they can be. We have symbol power, which is refined and restrained. They have their abilities. Trust me, you never want to cross a ninja. Their power is strong and wild. I've seen it do disastrous things." Antonio nods. Daisuke leads them to a door and steps aside. A servant presents a lit lantern, which Jayden takes. He then faces the door, takes a deep breath, and opens it. The others follow him as he descends the stairs leading to an iron door. Through the dim light, they see the silhouette of the traitor…

* * *

_Present Time_

* * *

Jayden silently walks up the stairs with his three friends. He is not sure how he will explain this to Emily, but Ji probably will understand. As he reaches the top, he knocks on the door and it opens. Outside there are two men standing guard. He nods to both of them and towards Daisuke. The older man shares the serious look on all of the four samurai's faces. He sighs and says, "I think we need some tea."

"Yes, that would definitely help," Jayden agrees. They all sit down on mats as a servant places a tray of cups and a teapot in between all of them. The servant then pours a sufficient amount of tea in each cup, gives one to each of them, bows, picks up the trey with the teapot, and leaves.

"This is a sad time for all of us," Daisuke says. Then he asks, "None of you saw this coming?"

"No, none of us," Jayden replies, "She told the yellow ranger, but as you know Emily had to learn the ways of the samurai in a rush when her sister became ill. There was little time for samurai code, when she needed to learn the basic symbols and swordsmanship in half the time the rest of us had. We can't blame her for not knowing the rules."

Mike looks up from his cup and asks, "How are we going to explain this to her? I mean, she is going to flip out when she finds out…Aw man!"

"What's wrong?" Kevin asks.

Mike runs his hand through his hair and replies, "Uh…well…I think we might end up loosing two rangers instead of one."

"Can I ask something? It might sound stupid, but I need this answered," Antonio says. The others nod and he continues, "What is so bad about Mia being a ninja?"

Daisuke explains, "With all personal scores aside, which there are many, it stems from the basic principal. Samurai follow a code of honor, called the bushido, which dictates how we must conduct ourselves in battle. The ninja have nothing of the sort. They kill for pay. They are assassins. They have no honor." Antonio meekly nods. After a little more small talk, the rangers stand up and leave. All of them know in their hearts, that none of this feels right. As they continue to walk, Kevin is the first to speak.

"Did it bother anyone else that he kept on calling her the prisoner?" he asks.

"Oh, so now you have a heart?" Antonio screams, "When did that happen? After you blasted her with water? Those jet streams could have broken a rib!"

"Antonio, we are just following protocol," Jayden scolds.

"Every time she told the truth she got punished! How is that protocol? How is that fair?" he snaps.

"She admitted to treason," he counters.

"She told the truth! How do we even know she started training willingly. What if her family forced her?" he hypothesizes, "What if she was six when she started or something like that? No six year old knows right from wrong!"

"You were six when you decided to be a samurai," Jayden quips.

"No, amigo, I was eight. I'm just saying, you guys are basing everything off of your emotions. You have given no thought to what possibly lies in the grey areas!" he screams, "You yelled at her for being related to a guy! Oi, do you know how ridiculous that sounds to me!"

"Antonio, you don't understand," says Jayden.

Antonio mumbles, "You've got that right!" With that they continue to walk in silence.

As they trudge on, Jayden thinks to himself,_ "__What if Antonio__'__s right? She never did anything to harm us, but what if I__'__m right? What on earth was she planning to do? Those ninjas always have something up their sleeves. Especially the __kunoichi__.* I just hope I made the right call.__"_ Once they reach the Shiba house later that night, they are not surprised to find Emily in her room refusing to talk to them. Mike walks to his room and tries to game the memories of the earlier day away. Kevin meditates in the dojo, but for the first time, can not focus. Jayden goes to the punching bag. He mindlessly wails away at the bag until he feels something wet run down his arm. He looks down at his hands and sees that he forgot to tape his knuckles. As he goes into the restroom to clean up the wounds, he remembers a familiar incident.

_Jayden walks into the dojo after a long day of training. He hears a steady beat going on the punching bag and goes to check it out. He sees the pink ranger going at it on the punching bag. He notices that she isn't using the traditional style that she normally uses during training. She slams her fist into the bag, sending it soaring all the way to where he is standing. He catches it and calmly says,"That's an interesting style. I've never seen you use any of those moves before." He __bring__s the bag back down to its hanging position and continues, "Still, I'm pretty sure that no matter what style you use, you're supposed to tape your knuckles before you hit the punching bag." He watches as she looks down at her bare hands, and sees that her knuckles are raw and bleeding._

_"Oh, I guess I forgot." she mumbles. He can tell that something is bothering her, but he doesn't press it. Instead he chuckles at her comment. He walks over to her and gently guides her by her elbow towards the restroom to clean up her wounds__.__ Jayden makes sure not to touch her hands, so he does not hurt her. He starts running the water until it gets warm, and instructs her to place her hands beneath it as he fumbles around in the medicine cabinet until he finds rubbing alcohol, gauze, and medical tape._

_As he opens the bottle of rubbing alcohol and warns, "Be ready, this is going to sting a little." __He sees her nod her head in reply and bite her lip in preparation for the sting that is to come__.__ As odd as it seems, he can't seem to stop thinking about how cute she is as he wraps her knuckles with gauze and then medical tape._

_"Thanks," Mia sheepishly says._

_"Anytime," Jayden replies. Then he remembers that earlier this morning Ji had called her inside with the cryptic words 'It's later.' He decides to ask her about it and says,"Hey, what was that about with Mentor? I didn't get what he meant by the 'It's later' thing."_

_She smiles up at him and shrugs, "I asked him to help me with a symbol that I was struggling with a few days ago, but he was busy, so he told me he would help me later, and today was later. We worked on it for a while, but there is only so long you can sit at a canvas getting blown across the room with a giant tornado, without getting a little frustrated."_

_Jayden sighs, "Let me guess, he told you to take a break and instead you hit the punching bag, while he goes out to practice with the rest of us?" She innocently nods. "You know you need to rest, especially after using that much symbol power."_

_"Give me a break, I got bored!__" she playfully retorts._

_He grins and says,"Ok, but no more punching bag for you!"_

_"Fine," Mia __sighs as she turns to walk away._

_He does not want her to go, so he grabs her shoulder and spins her around. "Hey, where are you going?" he desperately asks._

_She smirks, "I'm going to rest." He couldn't help but laugh as he watches her walk off to her room, and for the first time in his entire life realizes something. He has a crush._

As he is brought back to the present, he looks down at his hands and whimpers, "I loved her."

* * *

***Kunoichi-Female ninja.**

**A/N: So, the guys are feeling regret, Emily is not talking, Antonio is furious, Mia is still at the bottom of the Tengen Gate, and Jayden is in LOVE!**

**You might recognized the italics as a part of another chapter written in a slightly different POV. It is still omniscient, but I am treating this one as Jayden's POV and the original as Mia's POV. The chapter that this piece was in is "I Should Have." It might help to go back and re-read that part. I'm also treating Mia's as what really was going on and Jayden's as his love la la land. There are just some minor differences, but it might help.**

**I hope you liked it! Please Review and I'll see you with the next chapter!**


	16. Nostalgia

Though the cold darkness Mia sees nothing. Her wet body shivers and the only sound that can be heard is the chattering of her teeth. She does not cry or even feel contempt for what the others had done to her. She knew what would happen if they found out. Ji had made that very clear. She actually feels relief because ninja are treated as if they are nighlock, and one thing Mia does not want to face is Jayden's fire smasher. She lets the dark wash over her and everything goes still.

* * *

"Mia…Mia…Mia? Wake up! We have pizza!" a voice echoes. She moans as her eyes flutter open. Four green faces stare down at her. One quick look around tells her that she is in the turtle's truck, wrapped in a fluffy towel, laying on Mikey's lap.

"Look who's up!" Raph exclaims.

"I knew she would wake up for pizza!" Mikey cheers. Mia weakly smiles.

"We are taking you to the academy. Cam will help you figure things out from there," Donnie informs her.

"Just hang in there, kid. We're almost there," Leo comforts. As the ride continues, Mia listens to the guys chat, but never speaks herself. She is forced to stay barely awake the whole ride, Cam's orders. Mikey gives her the promised pizza and helps steady her shaking hand. He smiles as she rests in his arms. The turtles brag about their latest quests, both in real life and the video game realm. Eventually they pull onto a forest road. The truck jolts as it goes over the uneven road. Mia mons and holds her hand over her ribs.

"I'm no doctor, but one thing I can tell you is that you have a couple of broken ribs," Donnie explains. She remembers the interrogation, the pain making much more sense now. She remembers seeing something behind their eyes, especially Jayden. Something was different. Raph walks over to her with a glass of water and some medicine that was handed to him by Donnie. Mia takes it and realizes something: all four turtles are sitting in the back with her.

She swallows and whispers, "Who's driving?"

"We had a little help getting you out of the Tengen Gate," Leo answers. When she the look of confusion doesn't leave her face, he continues, "They're driving. You'll see them in a minute when we get out," the truck lurches to a stop, "which I guess is right now!" Mikey puts her down on her feet. She leans heavily on his shoulder as they walk outside. She stands outside and watches as two familiar faces emerge from the front of the van.

"Hola, chicita!" Antonio says with a weary smile.

Emily shyly says, "Hey, Mia. Are you feeling okay?" She nods and stumbles into her friends' arms. They all share one long hug. "When Antonio told me what they did to you, I called the turtles," Emily explains, "Splinter helped us create a rescue mission. The guys can fill you in on the details later. You can't come back to the Shiba house or Panorama City. Just try to lay low, okay?"

Mia objects, "No, I gotta..."

"Hermanita," Antonio interrupts, "You won't do us any good down in the bottom of a cell. We need you, but right now we need you to be safe. The turtles will take you to a safe place. We are going to stay here. It's best we don't know." She nods and as they say goodbye she begins to tear up. Mikey takes her by the arm and helps her walk down the trail. Eventually they get to a familiar path which leads to the bottom of a massive waterfall below a mighty mountain. She smiles as she sees the waterfall.

Leo walks up to the edge and announces, "Earth, air and water as one!" Then a powerful vortex opens up. The five walk into it and enter the pristine campus of the Wind Ninja Academy. The place where Mia spent many summers as a young child. They are greeted by several worried faces. Mia smiles as Cam runs over to his baby cousin and gives her a big hug. Despite her ribs, Mia hugs back. Behind him, she sees the other sensei standing behind him. Dustin, Shane, Summer, and Uncle Guinea Pig share a sigh of relief when they see her. The ninja lead her and the turtles into the main building. Cam sits her down in the nearest chair and checks her pupils.

"Thank goodness you don't have a concussion! They told me about your ribs, but does anything else hurt aside from your ribs and your head?" Cam asks.

"No, not really," Mia replies.

"Okay, let's get you to bed. We'll tape your ribs, and then I'll take you to your room," he tells her. She smiles and lets him lead her to her room. As she enters a wave of nostalgia hits her. All of her toys from when she was little lay untouched and everything looks just as she remembers it. Her doll house, her old training dummy dressed up in a garment of her own design, her first set of metal tensen...her definition of a "normal life" is not exactly what the others thought it was. Cam helps her into her bed and pulls the covers up over her. This time, when the light fades out, she feels safe.

* * *

**A/N: Hey! Sorry for the short chapter, I was busy getting my laptop fixed. I hope you like where the story is going, any comments please leave them in the review box. I have another story called Paraplegic in Pink that I've been working on. Y'all should go check it out! If you do, leave a comment about what you think! Merry Christmas!**


	17. Stolen Things, Orbs, and Revealed Love

**A/N: Hey! Sorry for the wait, I've been having some family holiday drama. Lets just say my mom doesn't get along with my dad's mom, my cousins are glued to the electronics, my other cousin has a mouth. Yup. Oh, and my brother has discovered this site. -_- He also discovered the review button as you can see. He is JonMacIntosh and he is looking for prompts. He does Harry Potter.**** I can****'****t give him one because I don't do Harry Potter and am stumped. PLEASE IF YOU DON'T REVIEW, AT LEAST GIVE HIM A PROMPT! I AM SO SICK OF HIM RIBBING ME FOR ONE! I LOVE HIM, AND WE ARE CLOSER THAN MOST SIBLINGS, BUT HE IS DRIVING ME LOCO! Enjoy and please review!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lucky Charms. If I did I would not be trying to force myself to eat this disgusting bowl of oatmeal. I am a worse chef than Mia!**

* * *

Mia rubs her eyes as she hobbles down the halls. She is still in her tank top and tattered training bottoms from the day before. She did not want to get out of bed, but eventually her stomach got the best of her. She holds her stomach while leaning on the wall for support, her ribs aching with every step she takes. As she finally reaches the dining halls Cam rushes up to her.

"What are you doing up?" he asks.

Mia smirks at his overprotective tone and nonchalantly replies, "I was planning to stay in bed, but my stomach forced me to get up." He rolls his eyes and shows her to the table that the others are sitting at. She feels the heat of the stares of the students on her as she passes by the many rows of tables. She leans towards her cousin and whispers, "Do they know about...well...you know?"

He shakes his head and replies, "Nah, it's just weird to have a newcomer, especially one who looks and smells, might I add, like they just took on an army, then a bear, then a dragon, then the rest of the animal kingdom!"

"Hey, I've been a little busy lately!" she retorts, "What do you think you'd smell like after being pummeled by a monster, pummeled by your so called friends, locked up in a damp basement, then saved by a bunch of guys who literally live in the sewer and another dude whose job involves catching and cutting up fish!"

"Touché!" he replies. Mia sits down at the table with the other sensei while Cam goes to get them breakfast. She makes small talk with the others until Cam gets back and plops down right next to her. He passes her one bowl of Lucky Charms with chocolate milk and a cup of tea.

"The Cam specialty!" she laughs, "I could never get away with this at the Shiba house! Kevin would always be going on about a samurai diet. Normally we couldn't even get away with pizza thanks to him!"

"Normally Cam can't get away with this either," Uncle Guinea Pig says. She watches as her cousin sheepishly looks down at the floor. Uncle continues, "but this is a special occasion so I'll let it slide." He ruffles his son's hair and smiles. Then he asks, "How are you doing, Mia? Are you feeling any better?"

"Yes, Uncle Guinea Pig," she replies. He rolls his eyes. Only his niece could get away with calling him that. He could never stay mad at her long enough to get her to stop. She continues, "I was thinking about maybe hitting the punching bag if I have time."

"No, you need to wait until you get better," he sternly says. Then he thinks for a moment and asks, "What else would you be doing that could take up your time?"

"I wanted to show Cam some samurai stuff that could reactivate your morphers," she replies. He smiles and pats her on the back. Cam surprised at what she said asks how she is planning on doing this, but she tells him that she will show him once they are done eating in a more private place.

* * *

All of the rangers sit around the table in the living room. Jayden has his head in his hands and the others sit in silence awaiting their leader's response to the news Daisuke had sent them this morning.

"How?" he yells, "How did she get word out to the other ninja? She was stuck down in a cell miles under ground! How did she get a bunch of armor clad ninja to bust her out?" Emily and Antonio share a nervous glance. Jayden is fuming and they do not want to anger him further.

"Maybe they are telepathic?" Mike suggests.

"That would've taken a lot of focus," Kevin objects, "She barely had enough air to breathe let alone think!"

"Maybe she sent the signal out somehow before she was locked up?" Antonio asks. He continues once he sees the confused looks on the other's faces, "When me and Emily searched her room, everything was gone including the turtle zord and her morpher. Somebody knew what was going on. Maybe she figured out what you were going to do with her, then called her ninja buddies. Last time I checked ninja could sneak around undetected!"

They all agreed that is how Mia escaped. They all visited Daisuke who was beside himself that he failed the samurai. He assures them that he did all in his power to stop them, but they were too fast and too strong. Jayden assures him that is is not his fault. They are taken to a room filled with monitors. Each shows a current image of a of the cell or an entrance to the underground prison itself. The guard is instructed to show the footage from the night before.

"So, as you can see, she remains where you left her after you leave," he begins, "She doesn't even move. I honestly thought that she was unconscious. Then," he fast forwards the track, "you see this." Four large figures sneak into the frame. All are wearing masks over their faces.

"What are they?" Jayden asks.

"Oh, my gosh!" Mike exclaims, "They are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! I read all of their comics when I was little!"

"What are they doing here?" Kevin asks.

"I don't know, but this is awesome!" Mike gleefully cheers. They watch as one of them pulls out a sai and uses it to unlock the door by forcefully sliding it through the crack in the door. Once they are in they get her out of the chair and carry her outside, the guardians show up. They try to fight the intruders, but to no avail.

"There was nothing that any of us could do," the guard explains.

"We clearly underestimated the strength of this enemy," Jayden announces, "We need to figure out something fast. The ninja could be spilling all of our secrets as we speak." Just then he gets a call on his samuraizer from Mentor. As he listens his eyes get wide. He exclaims, "Guys, the black box is gone!" Emily and Antonio share a look. Something tells them that they might have chosen the wrong side.

* * *

Mia sits on a stool next to her cousin who is analyzing the black box.

"How did you sneak this out?" he asks.

She shrugs, "I didn't. It was in my pocket when they sent me to the prison. I was going to use it in the battle, but that didn't really happen." He nods. Mia unlocked it the same way she had done the first time and smiles at her handiwork. She explains, "All of the red symbols were done by the original red ranger or his successors, the gold symbols were done blindly by Antonio, and the pink are either my symbols or my edits to Antonio's. The power of each folding zord is in here allowing the user to control the megazord by him or herself, but it is very difficult to do so. It essentially is the skeleton key to all of the samurai's gear."

"Nice work," he comments, "I'm glad you actually listened to me! This looks just like the formatting for the ninja morphers!"

"Hard not to pick up a few things when you make me listen to the same lecture over and over again like a bagillion times!" she jokes. He laughs and shoves her a little. She continues, "I figured if we connect your samurai ball...thing...that came out wrong. You know what I mean! That orb that you use to morph! If we use the black box to unlock it, we can recharge it. Then using the ninja symbol stuff that is crammed into the orb thing with the symbol power, we can unlock the other morphers. It's just a theory, but..."

"That's genius!" Cam exclaims, "Then we can get back in the game!" They high five and begin their work.

* * *

"My full name is Jayden Grant Shiba. I've never moved. I've been home schooled all of my life. My mom died just afterwards I was born and my dad died in battle against the nighlock when I was seven. I do martial arts for fun," Jayden finishes. After a day of trying to track down the black box to no avail, Emily said that they should do this in order to reveal any secrets that they might have and to get to know each other better, because obviously they did not do a very good job of that. Each ranger introduces themselves, then the do truth or dare minus the dare option until they are done. They all sit in a circle in the dojo. Kevin is the next.

He takes a breath and then begins, "My full name is Kevin Mathew Lawrence. Moving in here was the first time I ever moved. I went to Lakeside Elementary, then Jackson Middle School, then I went to Sampson High. I live with my dad and I've never met my mom. I train and I swim."

Mike clears his thought and says, "My full name is Miguel Santino Fontana. I am aware that there is an actor sharing my middle and last name. My sister is a Broadway freak. I lived in Angel Grove until about half way through middle school, then I moved to Panorama, and then here. I went to Longcup Elementary, then Sharon Middle School, then Foxhall Middle School, and then Ivor High School. I'm stuck with three younger sisters, but I'm glad that I have both of my parents are with me. I like hand to hand, par core, and video games."

"My full name is Emily Louise Jacobs," Emily sighs, "I have lived in the country my whole life, then I came here. My mom and dad are alive, but my sister is very sick, which is why I am here. I went to Country Road Elementary, Amity Middle School, and then Green Shell High. I like to play the flute, help around the farm, and use my sword."

Finally, Antonio says, "My full name is Antonio Felipe Roberto Garcia. I lived with my dad and my mom. I was home schooled and we moved around from place to place wherever we wished. I like to fish, train, and build/program gadgets." He rubs his hands together and asks, "So can I go first with the questions?" They nod so he asks, "Jayden, why were you so rough on Mia. I feel like she deserved a chance to explain herself before you blasted her with water."

"The water was to keep her awake," he explains, "Thanks to the nighlock, there was no possible way for her to do that on her own. As for the locking her up part, ninja are equal to none other than the monsters we fight. They don't follow any code and are essentially assassins. It is standard protocol. With the addition of the disgrace her cousin did to Mike's family, and another personal reason, I let them go harder than I should have on her. Before any of you ask, the personal reason is that when my mother died, there was speculation that she had not died of natural causes. A week later a known ninja emblem was found in the room my mother had died in." The others, shocked at what they had just heard, do not say a word. Jayden adds, "So, I'll ask a question now. Mike, did you ever get into your sister's Broadway?"

"No," he swiftly answers, "I was in one show with her, but that was it. It was Bonnie and Clyde. They needed a stuntman, and since I did my par core, she signed me up, but that was it. Kevin, with those little speedos, I'm sure there has been one incident. What was it and who was it in front of?"

"Well, actually there was one meet where I dove in and it came down to my ankles," he laughs, "Luckily it was butterfly, so I could finish the race and pull it up at the finish line. I actually one. It was in front of the whole team and they rib me about it to this day! There also was another time…never mind."

"What?" Mike asks.

"There was another time the first day," Kevin rushes, "Mia had just shown up and I thought that she was the red ranger, so I was pledging my allegiance and she looked at me like I had two heads. Then I realized I was standing there in sweatpants, a swim cap, and an unzipped jacket, nothing else. She used to goof with me about it all the time."

"It's understandable," Mike says, "Jayden does seem to like Mia's color."

"Hey!" he yells, "You try doing laundry with all red and white clothes! You slip up once and then your white shirts turn pink and you're stuck with nothing else to wear! Also, stop mentioning Mia." They all agree and continue.

"Antonio," Kevin asks, "Where have you lived that was your favorite place?"

"Puerto Rico, mi amigo! It is the most beautiful place I have ever lived!" he exclaims. He then turns to Emily and asks, "Chicita, you've been awfully quiet. Why are you so upset? This was your idea wasn't it?"

She nods and then says, "I really can only answer that with another question. Am I the only person here who actually misses having Mia around?"

"Nah, Em, we all do, but you know what she did," Mike replies.

Antonio interjects, "I still think we should have heard her side."

"She stole the black box!" Kevin exclaims, "What other perspective are you expecting to see. I'd think you of all people would be the most upset about…"

"I thought that we weren't talking about her!" Jayden yells.

Surprised by his tone Emily asks, "Jayden, what's up with you? What is going on?"

He looks away and then mumbles, "I loved her." He stands up and walks away. Antonio tries to stop him, but the others tell him to let it be. With Jayden gone, they all meander along to their own rooms and go to sleep.


	18. Cracking the Orb

**A/N: Hey, I've got a kind of short chapter for you today, but it is because I am supper busy. I promos you that once this patch of no time is up, I will be back to longer(****ish) chapters and more frequent updates on both of my stories. Please Review and Enjoy!**

* * *

Cam and Mia barely keep their eyes open as they work on cracking the orb. The moon is high in the sky as they have been working on their project nonstop since breakfast. They opened it the same way Mia had done with the black box, but they found it almost completely drained of its symbol power, and the ninja energy that is left looks like a foreign language to them. Scrolls are spread out on every surface available. The cousins use them as a makeshift key for the ninja symbols. Despite programming the zords, Cam had never built a morpher before. They stare at the symbols trying to compare it to the ones on the black box. Mia's eyes almost close, but Cam shakes her awake.

"Come on!" he pleads, "We've got to stay awake. This is going to be our rosetta stone in a way. One mistake and we all will be paying the price."

"Maybe we should rest," Mia suggests, "Like you said, we can't make a single mistake. We are sharper and at our best after a good night's sleep."

Cam rubs his eyes underneath his glasses and sighs, "I just wish that I could say that we have made significant progress." Mia nods and twirls her samuraizer with her fingers. Cam watches her hand for a second and then his eyes light up. He jumps out of his chair and exclaims, "I've got it! We are going off of the wrong item. Maybe, we should compare the symbols in the black box to the symbols in your samuraizer to program mine! Can you unlock it?"

"Yeah! Just let me run and get something to help me first!" she answers. With that she takes off running filled with new energy from the promise of progress.

* * *

Ji paces the room back and forth his lips are pursed and his forehead wrinkled in thought. After practically interrogating Emily about what exactly Mia had told her, all he could come up with is that the symbol did not work. Mia should not have been able to reveal all of this to her. He saw it happen. He saw everything happen. Yet, somehow it did not work when it was supposed to.

He walks into his room and picks up several scrolls. As he sifts through them, the pile of pages that do not help him in his little quest grows. After hours of searching through documents, Ji throws down the final scroll that he could find that has anything pertaining to his predicament. He groans in frustration as a knock on the door is heard. He tells the person to enter. Jayden cautiously walks in taking up his surroundings.

"Hey, Ji? What's going on?" he asks. He looks around at the pile of scrolls and then looks back at his adoptive father.

"Jayden, I am doing some research. It has come up inconclusive. It seems that everything that we have on the ninja clans are mainly myth when talking about their powers and their abilities." Jayden nods and shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot.

He opens his mouth and quietly asks, "Ji, if you knew, then why didn't you banish her or at least tell us?"

"When I found out, we didn't have Antonio or the black box. I had to make a choice. When Antonio came, I was going to use him to get her away, but she had become an invaluable member of the team. Taking her away would only cause the team more trouble than it was worth. I am not planning to tell him this, but Mia was the one who formatted the black box. She did this against my will, but she told me that if Antonio had blindly shot one more symbol into it, he would have blown up the whole east side of Panorama. Also, I predicted Emily's reaction. Mia became an older sister to her. Almost like a substitute-Serena for the time being. I didn't want to hurt her. I kept Mia on a tight leash, though. She was not permitted to leave the Shiba house without one of the others with her. Eventually, I let my guard down and gave her more freedom. That evidently was my mistake."

"Do you think I made the right call?" Jayden timidly asks. His eyes are at the ground and his hands are shoved deeply into his pockets.

"It is the call that I would have made," Ji replies. He puts his hand on the red ranger's shoulder and leads him out of his room.

* * *

Mia sprints into the control room where Cam sits waiting for her to arrive with the tool to unlock her samuraizer. She grins at him and pulls out a long wooden paintbrush from behind her back. Before he can retort or say anything she begins drawing symbols in the air and with the flick of her wrist she unlocks it. The billions of symbols project on every surface of the room on top of the symbols from the black box and the orb.

"How did you do that with a paintbrush?" Cam sputters.

"When it comes to old school, don't fix what 'aint broke," she smugly replies, "Now, I'm pretty sure this is our rosetta stone! They begin to over lay the symbols into the orb. They both work furiously decoding every symbol and transferring it. Cam finishes up the basic coding and the ninja symbols white Mia translates the samurai kanji.

"Hey," Cam says nudging her in the ribb, "I have an idea." He begins to overlay the ninja power into Mia's samuraizer. Once he finishes she informs her, "Now, you'll be able to use all of your abilities in battle." Mia grins and they highfive. They get back to work on the orb and only finish when the sun is up and the morning bell has rung.

"We should...we should…we should really...," Cam mumbles. His eyes drift shut and he slumps in his seat. Mia curls up in her chair like a cat. Sensei walks in to find them both fast asleep. He looks around at all of the schematics and symbols strewn about. He picks up the completed orb in his hands, and can feel the power within.

"Nice work, children. Now, I guess I should get a substitute for your classes, Cam. Something tells me that you are going to be taking a sick day," mumbles to no one in particular. He looks down at Mia's back. He runs his finger over the scar that just barely peeks out of her tank top. He squints his eyes and purses his lips. Gently, Sensei moves the strap away so that he can see it better. He slowly memorizes the symbol as she sleeps. He shakes his head, sighs, and walks away.


	19. Silence

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, I've been struggling with how to get this one chapter out. I was considering making ****this into two, but I feel like it works out better this way. To make up for the time waiting, I made sure that this would be one of my longest chapters so far! I hope you like it. Tell me what you think! Good or bad I can take it, and I can't fix it unless I know what is wrong!**

* * *

Mia's eyes flutter open at a sound like a chainsaw. She looks across the room and a sleepy smile crosses her face. The sound resonates from her resting cousin's mouth. He slumps in his chair with a small river of saliva escaping his lips. A sticky note clings to his forehead. Drowsily, she stretches and stumbles over to where he lay. Mia picks up the note and stifles her laughter. It reads:

_Hey,_

_I had to take over your class. Get some sleep next time! This is a bit of revenge__…_

_Your Favorite Hologram,_

_Cyber Cam_

In between Cam's brows, Cyber Cam scribbled sharpie, so that he dons a unibrow. He also sports a new mustache, a goatee, and two horns drawn on his temples. Suddenly, a terrifying thought pops into her head. Mia sprints to the restroom and looks into the mirror. A sigh of relief escapes her lips when no ink can be seen on her face. When she turns to leave, however, a black marking on her shoulder catches her eye. She turns her back to the mirror and gazes over her shoulder at her scar. Cyber Cam outlined her scar in sharpie and embellished kanji on her back clearly reads: 沈黙 . Inside of it a pattern of the kanji 忍者, ninja, with various lines highlight several 天 , heaven symbols. Her eyes narrow at the sight of it, but after a second, they soften and she smirks.

Mia strides back towards her cousin with content with the new ink. She looks at the sticky note, which she had dropped on the floor in her panic, and picks it up and rips it up. She grabs her samuraizer off the table and snaps a picture of her sleeping kinsman, drool and all. Then she skips out of the room, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, towards the cafeteria.

"There must be some staff or student who might be at least the slightest bit interested in this little gem," she laughs to herself.

* * *

_Two dark figures creep through the air ducts. The one in front comes to an abrupt stop just before a vent, causing the latter to run into them. The former__'__s dark eyes scan the bottom of the duct, seeing small green lines scattered around._

"_Hey, Mia! Come on! We__'__ve got to go tell Mom!__" __the person in the back whines._

_Mia nervously whispers, __"__Terry, he knew.__"_

"_What do you mean he knew?__" Terry snaps._

"_There are needles scattered about the ground,__" __she explains. Her voice rises in pitch and her heart races._

"_Why don__'__t you just move them? They__'__re just metal!__" __Terry sarcastically reasons._

_Mia sighs, "__Not sewing needles! They are pine needles, as in the leaves on a Christmas tree that I__'__m allergic to!__"_

"_You didn__'__t take your allergy medicine, did you?__" __Terry worriedly asks. Instead of an answer, Mia begins to take in some deep breaths. Knowing what would come next, Terry reaches around Mia and wraps his hand over her masked nose and mouth. With his other, he tries to brush away the allergens, but only stirred up resting dust, making things much worse. Mia pulls away from her brother and crawls forward in an attempt to escape. She begins to feel her hands itch at the touch, but ignores it. They make their way down towards another vent. Once they get there, Mia maneuvers herself so that she can off brush the remaining needles. Terry tries to help by scooping them up and throwing them out the slits in the vent. While they do this, they hear talking from the room outside the grate. They peer through and see six figures sitting around a wooden table. A dark skinned man with a shaved head sits on a plush bench next to a fair skinned woman whose face is dotted with freckles. On the other side of the table, a messy haired, tan man sits on an identical bench next to a familiar woman with ebony hair and almond eyes. At the head of the table, on a large, wooden chair sits a regal man with short, military style hair. Behind him, a young man with jet black hair in a kimono stands guard._

_Terry points to the woman and exclaims, __"__Look! It__'__s Mom!" __Mia nudges him and puts her finger over her lips, silently silencing him. They continue to watch from their hiding place as the man in the chair looks around at his sitting companions._

_He begins, __"__I have a plan. Trust me, I don__'__t like it at all, but as of right now, it is the only thing we__'__ve got. There is a symbol that can seal away Xandred for good, but only the head of the Shiba clan can perform it. I don't have time to learn it, so in two weeks Lauren will go to Japan. There is one temple where she may be undisturbed as she learns the symbol. When she masters it, she will return.__"_

"_She is only ten years old! How do you expect her to learn it in time?__" __the bald headed man asked._

_The other man sighs, __"__I don'__t expect her to complete this task until our children have taken up their duty._

_Sadie Watanabe exclaims, __"__So you are going to rob your only daughter of her childhood! She can barely create a spark. What makes you think that she will ever accomplish this? Also, she need to be the red ranger for our children. Are you just going to leave them without a leader?__"_

_He squints his eyes and scoffs, __"__Well, you don__'__t seem to listen to me, so why would your heir? If your child is just as bad a follower as you, then the children are doomed from the start. Also, Jayden will take her place until Lauren completes the task. You are not to tell your children. If they know, they might not respect him as a leader. I do not want him to be treated like a substitute.__"_

_She rolls her eyes. __"__Great!__" __she sarcastically exclaims, __"__So our children will have to follow a liar. That is just great!__"_

_The two children have to stifle a laugh at their mother__'__s caustic statement. In the moment of lightheartedness, Mia does not notice the tickle in her nose until it is too late. She cries, __"__Ahchoo!__" __Her head bangs up against the top of the air duct, causing all heads to turn towards the vent. The two children shrink away from the ducts, so that they would not be seen. The man in the chair stands up and looks back towards the man in the kimono._

_He asks, __"Ji?"_

"_It must be a rodent that made its way into the ducts. Don__'__t worry, I__'__ll handle it. Just continue the meeting,__" __Ji nonchalantly answers. He walks down the hall, so Mia and Terry creep the other way through the ducts until they reach their exit on the other side of the house. Mia jumps out first, only to land in the arms of an adversary. Terry shrinks back into the ducts, so he is not seen. Ji wraps his hand around her mouth and pulls her into another other room. She is forced into a chair where her hands are bound behind her back._

"_You are in big trouble, Mia,__" __Ji scolds. He walks over and pulls off her mask. Her eyes dart away from him as he does. Her whole body begins to shake in fear. He leans down next to her ear and whispers, __"__I better not hear one word from you. It will not end well if I do.__" With that he struts out of the room. __A knock on the nearest air duct causes her head to spin. She looks her brother right in the eyes and mouths, __"Go!" __He shakes his head in defiance. She squints her eyes and points her head towards the door. He rolls his eyes, not fearing the outcome of what might happen if he were to get caught._

* * *

Mia slides onto the bench next to Marah. She giddily chirps, "Good morning!"

"Hey, cuz! It's noon, did you just wake up?" Marah asks. Mia rolls her eyes. Then with a mischievous glint in her eyes, she nudges her cousin with her shoulder and darts her eyes down towards her samuraizer then back up at her cousin. Marah takes the hint and grabs the samuraizer out of her cousin's hand and looks at the picture. She smirks and asks, "Did you do this?"

Mia shakes her head and sighs, "No, it was Cyber Cam. I wish it was me! You know, I know a certain yellow ranger who might be interested in seeing this. So, where's Waldo?"

Marah rolls her eyes and laughs, "He is over there with the other sensei. They already ate lunch." Mia thanks her and stands up to go show the others, but just before she does, Marah grabs her shoulder and exclaims, "Looks like you got some ink of your own, cuz!"

"Yeah, I think that it's pretty cool," Mia shrugs as she runs over to the sensei.

* * *

_The door cracks open, and the man who was in the chair creeps into the room. His right hand remains behind his back as he kneels down inches away from her face. He smiles and then whispers, __"__You, my friend, are in a lot of trouble. Contact with family is strictly prohibited during war time. Also, I have reason to believe that you overheard something that you shouldn__'__t have. Is that true?__"_

_Mia gulps and her hands start to quiver. She looks down at her shoes, avoiding his eyes. Tension builds up in her muscles as she feels his eyes on her. Finally, she gains the courage to look up at his face. His light brown hair is cut military style and his face is defined and slim. She stares silently back into his near-black eyes, not answering or giving any sign that she will. After about five minutes, the door opens again. She looks over to see Ji walking towards them._

"_Are you ready, James?__" __Ji asks. The man, James, nods and then turns back to Mia._

"_So you don__'__t like talking?__" __he surmises, __"__Well, I guess that is a good thing. That way, this won__'__t hurt you so much.__" __Ji walks behind her and clamps his hands down onto her shoulders. She tries to fight him, but to no avail. Mia feels the cool streak of a metal splitting the fabric of her black shirt on her left shoulder blade, stopping half-way down her back. James walks in front of her and places the knife down on top of a table. He reaches into the pocket of his red and white plaid shirt, pulling out his samuraizer._

_He walks back around her and in a split second, a spike of burning pain slashes across her back. This repeats over and over again. She tries to scream out, but her jaw clamps shut. The blazing agony starts at the top of her left shoulder blade, slowly making its way down to the middle. She hears the clique of the samuraizer closing back up. The cool sensation of a wet rag washing the blood away contrasts the fire felt moments before. He places soft gauze over the wound and then uses medical tape to keep it still._

_While he works, he says impressed, __"__Not one tear. You are a strong one. You__'__ll make a decent pink ranger.__" __Her face becomes wan. He notices this, and chuckles, __"__What? You didn__'__t know? I__'__d hate to be the barer of bad news. Oh, wait, that is why you are here, isn__'__t it? We have rules for a reason, Miss Watanabe. Next time, use the front door like a civil person. Then again, the likes of you are not known for being civil. You better learn.__" __Mia tries to respond, but her jaw remains clamped shut. She just settles for a stink eye as he walks out of the room._

* * *

Mia skips up to the group of sensei. They turn to see her and grin. Dustin smirks, "Hey, kiddo!"

"Hey! I've got something I need to ask you. What would you do if I said that I could restore your ranger powers. Would you help me and the samurai?"

"What are you saying?" Tori asks.

Mia mumbles, "Cam and I stayed up all night last night creating a skeleton key for your morphers by translating the symbols in my samuraizer to the symbols in Cam's orb and using scrolls to fill in the blanks where the ninja powers are. Cam's orb now is fully functional. We are almost done with yours as well."

"Wait, you fixed our morphers?" Shane exclaims. Mia smiles back at them and nods her head. "Well, I for one want to see if these actually work, but I'm not going first!"

"So you'll do it?" she squeals.

"Of course!" Shane replies, "But I'm serious. Cam is going first."

A mischievous grin crosses Mia's face as she pulls out her samuraizer and says, "Speaking of Cam…"

"Hey, Mia, what's that on your back?" Dustin asks.

Mia looks over her shoulder and replies, "Oh, that's just a long story."

* * *

_The door bursts open and Sadie sprints in wrapping her arms around Mia. Tears stream down her face as she cradles her daughter in her arms. She unties the girl__'__s hands and brings them around to the front, holding them in her own. __"__Are you okay, sweetie?__" __she asks. The tension in the girl__'__s jaw gets tighter and tighter with each attempt at speech. She tries to make a sound, but nothing comes out. She leans into her mother__'__s arms just as tears begin to flow down her face._

_Sadie picks up her daughter and carries her to her own room. She places the little girl on her side on the bed. She loosens the bandages on her back to see what the red ranger had done to the child. Once she removes the gauze, she clearly sees _沈黙 _, silence, written across her left shoulder blade._


	20. Ji's Worst Nightmare

**A/N: Thanks to anyone who has been reviewing. I love it so much that you enjoy my stories. Any ideas or critiques, just write them down in the comment center or PM me! Thanks!**

Mia and the other ninja stand outside in the garden, each holding their repaired morphers. They stare at each other in anticipation, while waiting for someone to make the first move. Even Mia, whose morpher never stopped working, feels the butterflies rise in her stomach, as Cam had edited some of the programing in it. She steals a glance at her cousin who still has faint marks on his face from Cyber's doodles. Mia watches as he stares intensely down at his orb. She can practically see him trying to build up the courage inside of him to attempt to morph, with the dangers of a mishap written in the creases on his forehead and in his frantic eyes. Suddenly, he exhales and screams, "Samurai storm! Ranger form!" With a flash of bright light more powerful than anything ever emitted by the orb before, standing before them, the Green Samurai Ninja Storm Ranger looks down at himself, examining the ranger suit.

Impatiently, Mia asks, "So, it looks like it worked. What do you think, Cam?"

He looks up at her and exclaims, "It did more than work! I've never felt anything more powerful! You guys have got to try this!" The others follow suit, with the exception of Mia. The next thing they know, the yellow, blue and red ninja storm rangers join the green ranger. After admiring themselves for a moment they turn to Mia.

"Hey, what are you waiting for, cuz?" Cam asks.

She sighs, "The last time I…you know…"

"This'll be different, Mia," Tori insists, "We promise." She places her hand on the samurai's shoulder. Mia nods and flips out her samuraizer.

She takes a deep breath and then exclaims, "Go, go samurai!" She writes the symbol in the air and slashes at it. The pink samurai begins to morph, only to be shocked by an electric wave of pain. Mia screams and blacks out.

* * *

Jayden's fists slam up against the desk in his room. He shut himself up inside after training. All seemed to have a semblance normality, yet no one could ignore the elephant in the room. "Why can't I get her out of my head?" he cries. "I constantly see her standing there, looking at me with those eyes and that smile!" he murmurs to himself, "I need to find her. I need to make her stop these ninja mind tricks she is playing on me. If only I could track her somehow. Like when Antonio tracked me when Dekker took me." He pauses for a moment, and realizes what he just said. Then he exclaims, "Like how Antonio tracked me!" He sprints out into the living room and exclaims, "I know how to find her!"

"How?" Mike asks.

"Remember when Antonio tracked my samuraizer using the light? Well, one of the things that she stole along with the black box was her samuraizer!" he giddily explains. Emily looks over to Antonio worriedly, but he does not seem to fear.

"I'll get right on that, amigo!" Antonio sings. As he walks past dumbfounded Emily, he winks at her. He has a plan.

* * *

Chatter around her causes Mia to regain consciousness. Her eyes barely open enough for her to see the outlines of her cousin and Cyber Cam. She tries to prop herself up, but slips and slams her head back onto the cot. She groans and rolls over onto her side. Mia tries to prop herself up again, but is stopped by Cam. He gently rolls her back onto her back and lies her down slowly. He grabs a pillow off the ground that Mia must have knocked off when she tried to sit up. The green ranger slides it under her head.

He runs a finger across her forehead brushing some hair out of her eyes and explains, "You were knocked out pretty good, cuz. I think that the combination of all of your powers overwhelmed your samuraizer, and that plus all that you have been through lately overwhelmed you."

"So, the problem is that I have too much power?" she asks. He nods. "Well, I think that is Ji's worst nightmare!" she jokes.

Cam laughs, "I know right!" He ruffles her hair and then continues, "I think I found a solution, though. Using the data you gave me, I made a converter that can make your ninja abilities compatible with your symbol power and vice versa." He takes her left wrist and straps what looks like a watch to it. "It should make the power more bearable for both you and your morpher," he adds.

"How does it work?" she questions.

Cyber Cam answers, "Just channel all of your symbol power into here. It'll already be connected to your ninja abilities. It also has a communicator for us to use and it will monitor our health so we know what is too much."

"It looks like a watch, so does it tell time?" she asks.

"Uh, no, it does not tell time. I didn't really think of that," he mumbles. She smiles at him and they start to laugh.

She grips her chest and moans, "Uh, everytime I start to feel better, something else always seems to happen!"

"It's like you're living a bad fanfiction!" Cyber Cam jokes. She rolls her eyes, but an enormous grin remains plastered on her face.

Cam looks at his cousin and says, "Get some rest, cuz. We've been taking this too fast. I want you to sleep and get better, then next week, we'll get started on your training."

"Next week!" she whines, "I can't wait until next week!"

"Me and the others need to get back into the swing of things with the morphing, and you need to recuperate," Cam explains.

"We also need to try to get in contact with Hunter and Blake and figure out how we will detect a nighlock attack," Cyber adds.

"I already know how to detect the monsters," she pleads. Cyber Cam and Cam stare at her shocked. "Wait, I forgot to show you?" Mia asks. They nod and she continues, "I have this little thing. It is wooden and has red gems. It is cut in the shape of the Shiba symbol. Everytime a pure nighlock passed through the gap, it glows. Just use the same symbols we used to crack the black box and the morpher, then we'll program it to sound an alarm here."

"Or better yet, let's have it programed to our morphers and your converter. That way if we are out we will still see it," Cam adds. The cousins high five and agree to work on the new project later. Cam puts his arm around Mia and helps her from the infirmary to her room so she can rest.


End file.
